OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 31, 2018) – It's a hallmark of how far Oklahoma Christian baseball has come during coach Lonny Cobble's tenure that a 28-21 season record in 2017 was considered somewhat of a disappointment.

The Eagles consistently failed to produce enough runs, hitting a good-but-not-great .286 as a team, and while OC's pitchers bailed the hitters out more often than not, one of Cobble's offseason focuses was to upgrade the offense.

While he was doing that, he also was cognizant of a big change in the Heartland Conference scheduling practices for 2018, increasing the length of a league series from three games to four – thus putting even more of a premium on pitching quality and depth.

Those two factors mean there are a lot of new faces on this year's OC squad, which will open its season on Thursday against Central Oklahoma in Grand Prairie, Texas.

"We have a small group of returning guys from last year, but it's a good group to build around," Cobble said. "That's exciting. Those guys have worked hard and they've been good leaders for everybody this year.

"Only time will tell what we'll be like. We've just got to get out there and play and see what happens."

Five everyday starters will be back for the Eagles this season, but not necessarily in the positions they played in 2017. Chief among those is senior Kolton Brown. The All-South Central Region first-team utility selection – chosen for his prowess both pitching and hitting – will move from first base to catcher, the position he played while in high school.

Brown led the Heartland in batting average (.420), slugging percentage (.884) and on-base percentage (.487) while hitting eight home runs with 23 RBIs. As a starting pitcher, he went 4-3 with a 4.24 ERA with 28 strikeouts, and he committed only one error in 129 chances for a .992 fielding percentage. He'll still pitch on occasion, but will lead a catching trio that also includes sophomore Slater Springman and freshman Chandler Salinas.

Two left-handed hitters, junior transfers Brice Smith and Alex Garcia, will see considerable time at first base, with the other likely in the lineup as the designated hitter. Smith hit .366 last season for Eastern Oklahoma State while Garcia hit .410 for Cedar Valley (Texas).

A group of four players will see most of the time at the middle infield positions – returnee Garrett Wages (.235, 20 RBIs), Callen Crockett, Matthew Foster and Kyle Bottger, a transfer from NCAA Division I Southeast Missouri State. Cobble said that quartet will be mixed and matched depending upon who is producing.

At third base, Jake Collins (.341, 1 home run, 14 RBIs) – now fully cleared to play as he deals with thoracic outlet syndrome – and freshman Alex Hansen will be the primary players, although Wages (who started there last season) might also see time. Collins also will be a key part of the Eagles' pitching staff.

Kennedy (.301, 4 home runs, 30 RBIs) – OC's starting center fielder and a second-team All-Heartland selection last season – will move to right field, opening a spot for another Division I transfer, Hunter Markwardt, who was an everyday starter for Abilene Christian in 2016.

There are plenty of prospects in left field – highly touted freshman Julien Ly, veteran Ryan Ward, hot-hitting Austin Stokes, Hayden Strobel (last season's starting second baseman, hitting .264 with 1 home run and 11 RBIs), senior Luke Reynolds and sophomore Drew Wright.

With such depth, Cobble and his staff should have plenty of pinch-hitting options, which will be a luxury, he said.

"We are as deep as we've ever been at each position," Cobble said. "If we do have an injury, we've got guys we can plug in and not miss a beat. That's pretty exciting. If guys aren't playing well, we've got guys who can jump-start us and that's important."

With the four-game Heartland series – and thus fewer midweek games – in mind, Cobble redesigned his pitching staff. The initial four-man starting rotation for the Eagles' four games in Grand Prairie will be returnees Mason McAlister (5-3, 3.69 ERA) and Gabe Rodery (3-2, 5.11 ERA) along with freshman Robbie Suhr and Skyler Martin, a transfer from Southwestern Oklahoma State. Brown could also have a few spot starts.

The bullpen includes a good mix of returnees – Matthew Fusselman, Garett Hill, Abe Spencer, Reynolds, Michael Basler, Conner Litterell, Collins, Zachary Pape – and newcomers including Conner Fryrear, Errett Edwards, Ly and Matthew Rackley.

One pitching wild card is senior Dylan Fazekas, who has spent time during his OC career as a closer and starter. He's back this season after making only three appearances in 2017 due to injury and should be cleared to play by March. He's one of a handful of candidates to be OC's closer in 2018.

Four-game series "are definitely going to make life more miserable," Cobble said, "because by the time you get to the third game, you've just about depleted your bullpen, and now you're going to a fourth game. It will make it harder, because they didn't increase our travel roster from 27 guys. Now you've got to get creative and maybe carry more pitchers than we have in the past. … It's changes the way you coach and think."

Another challenge for the Eagles in 2018 will be their schedule. Because of the longer Heartland Conference series, and league-mandated four-game nonconference series against Heartland foes Newman (Kan.) and Arkansas-Fort Smith – the Eagles' schedule will have a 20-day gap between games – from Feb. 10 to March 2. That won't help them generate momentum as they try to rebound from last season's fifth-place league finish.

"Nobody wanted to play those (nonconference games against league foes)," he said. "What really concerns me is that layoff. But we will make the best of it."