CONWAY, Ark. - After recording what could be claimed as one of the most prolific seasons in Hendrix baseball program history, the Warriors are not far away from the 2020 season. After claiming its first-ever Southern Athletic Association Championship nine months ago, Hendrix opens its 2020 campaign down in Grand Prairie, Texas against Texas Lutheran Feb. 7. Last year, Hendrix, who earned national votes and was ranked in the D3baseball.com Top 25 Poll throughout the season, finished the year with a 30-14 mark and barely missed its chances at an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. In addition to that tremendous success, Head Coach Sean McSheffery did all this in just his first-year as the head man while also picking up SAA Coach of the Year honors and five players earned All-SAA honors as well.

"I am excited to see us come together as a team," stated McSheffery.

NEWCOMERS
There are numerous freshmen that could have tremendous amounts of success for this program. Justin Scott hit .408 a year ago during his senior year at Lakeside High School while Tuffy Dornburg hit .416 with seven long balls, 18 doubles, seven triples and slugged .894 for Goliad High School; all while being named a Texas 3A All-State catcher. Gunner Hopkins hit .481 at the plate while also carding a 2.58 ERA on the mound for Dyersburg High School.

"I am really excited to watch our young core progress," McSheffery said. "They all worked incredibly hard this offseason and I cannot wait to see what they do this spring."

RETURNERS
Underclassmen played a huge role in Hendrix's success last year. Jack Hodgins picked up five wins on the mound while tossing 81.2 innings of action. The sophomore struck out 67 batters a year ago while holding a 1.98 ERA. Hodgins was named SAA Pitcher of the Week (4/8/19) and also was named D3baseball.com All-South Region Rookie of the Year, D3baseball.com All-South First Team, D3baseball.com All-America Rookie of the Year and Rawlings All-South First Team. The sophomore also earned D3baseball.com Preseason All-American honors a week ago as well. Andrei Stoyanow also had a phenomenal year on the hill. The Kapolei, Hawaii native carded a 7-1 mark on the mound in 13 appearances while holding a 2.39 ERA in 52.2 innings of action and limited batters to hit just .242. Stoyanow earned SAA Pitcher of the Week honors after his dominate performance in his collegiate debut (2/25/19) against the University of the Ozarks. Stoyanow was named the 2019 SAA Newcomer of the Year also. At the plate, Juan Pablo Leon led the team in batting while just being a freshman. The sophomore hit .394 a year ago and is the younger brother of recent Hendrix baseball alum, Jorge Leon. JP Leon carded a team-high 63 hits, eight doubles a triple and a home run while also recording 27 RBIs and slugged .475 with four stolen bases. Ford Sherrington also returns for his senior year after hitting .368 in 43 games last year while Seth Tucker returns as well after recording a team-best 18 stolen bases a season ago and tallied 54 hits, 10 doubles and a team-high three triples.

"Our newcomers are phenomenal kids who have meshed really well with our older guys," stated the head coach. "They have worked incredibly hard this fall and we are excited to see what they do this spring."

SCHEDULE
Hendrix opens its 2020 campaign in Grand Prairie, Texas Feb. 7 against Texas Lutheran in the 2020 Rusty Greer & Jackie Moore Collegiate Classic. The Warriors will also play nationally ranked Concordia (Texas) one day later before taking on Hardin-Simmons Feb. 9 in the tournament finale. After sweeping the Big Blue last year for the first time ever, Hendrix takes on Millikin Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. in its home opener in the first game of a three-game set. After narrowly escaping with an 11-10 victory over Washington University-St. Louis last year, the Warriors will take on the Bears from Conway yet again. The first game of the series is set for Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. from Warrior Field. Hendrix battles Division II foe Ouachita Feb. 25 before opening up SAA play Mar. 7 against Rhodes in Memphis in a rematch of the 2019 SAA Hendrix Pod final game. The Warriors tackle the 2019 NCAA Runner-Up in Birmingham-Southern Apr. 4 at 1 p.m. from Birmingham, Ala. The Warriors battle Millsaps Apr. 19 at 12 p.m. on Senior Day before gearing up for the 2020 SAA Tournament which will begin Apr. 23.

"The SAA year in and year out is a dog fight, McSheffery went on to say."That is what makes this conference so special. That combined with our non-conference schedule should make for an exciting year. Our guys love competing and we are excited for this season!"

All the home baseball games can be watched live and streamed on demand here.