A new season, a new beginning, a new approach.

The Washington State University baseball team opens up its 2012 season on Feb. 17 with a trip to Mississippi State for a three-game series.

After a 2011 season that left the players and coaches wanting more, the Cougars look to come out this season and make the postseason again after missing it last year.

“(Omaha) is always going to be a team goal,” WSU Head Coach Donnie Marbut said. “You always want to be one of those final eight teams, it’s the holy grail of college baseball.” 

Last year's team fell short of expectations, perhaps due to a lack of team chemistry; however Marbut believes this year’s squad has found that chemistry and believes it will be a big factor this season.

“In the eight years we’ve been here we’ve established a ‘we’ mentality and I think last years' team established a ‘me’ mentality,” Marbut said. “So we made a commitment to the team, a commitment to the staff, to ourselves, to our alumni that there’s a certain way we’re going to do it no matter what. It’s always going to be team first. I feel like Cougar baseball is back acting like Cougar baseball.”

In addition to large team goals such as Omaha, Marbut expressed a desire to achieve some intermediate goals as well this season.

“We want to play really, really hard,” Marbut said. “We want to make sure we play hard and that we play for nine innings. I thought last year’s club we didn’t finish games and we didn’t play hard for nine innings.

This year’s team returns many starters on offense, including big contributors junior Taylor Ard, sophomore Jason Monda, senior Derek Jones and sophomore Collin Slaybaugh.

Last season marked the first season of play under the new BBCOR (Batted Ball Coefficient of Restitution) bat standards in college baseball, and consequently, a major drought across college ball in offensive production.

Essentially this required aluminum bats in college baseball to produce ball exit speeds identical to those created by wooden bats, severely dampening the big power found in the college ranks. 

These new standards did not seem to effect Ard though, the sophomore produced at a high level last year with an incredible hot streak to close out the season.

Ard hit .337 last season with 10 home runs, 40 runs and 55 RBI’s, while also drawing a .408 on base percentage, .240 ISO on a .344 BABIP.

Ard headed back to the Palouse for another season of Pac-12 baseball after being drafted this past summer by the Boston Red Sox 772^nd overall, but failing to agree on contract terms.

Monda was also a big contributor at the plate and in the field last year as a freshman and looks to take his game even further this season.

“You know, coming off my freshman year and getting some of the growing pains out of the way and getting used to playing in the Pac-12,” Monda said. “That’s a great way to figure out where I’m at, but at the same time last year as a freshman you kind of have feel like you have to prove that you belong. As a sophomore I know I can compete at this level, from that standpoint I think that personally I can really make an impact on this team and hopefully be a big contributor.”

Lending to the “we” mentality Marbut emphasized, Monda looks to be a contributor not only on the field but as a teammate as well.

“Growing up, one of the things I really want to do is become more of a leader on this team,” Monda said. “Vocally and by leading by example as well.”

After losing Adam Conley to the Florida Marlins and Chad Arnold and James Wise (signed with Houston Astros as free agent) to graduation, the starting rotation will be brand new in 2012.

After showing much promise out of the bullpen in 2011, sophomore J.D. Leckenby will become this year's Friday night starter. 

Out of the bullpen last year Leckenby threw 27.2 innings with a 2.28 ERA, 5.53 FIP, allowed zero home runs and held opposing batters to a 0.172 batting average.

Making the transition from reliever to starter can be tough but Leckenby seems to be ready to make the jump.

“(The transition) isn’t too different, it’s a total mindset difference but you still got to do your pitches, you got to be in the game and know what you’re doing,” Leckenby said. “It is different when you go down to it; when you’re starting you have to go six, seven innings and help your team get the win. You also have to get your arm in better shape, so you can go maybe 100 pitches, 90 pitches instead 3 pitches to 25 pitches in a game.”

The pitching staff as a whole has talent but lacks experience, something Marbut doesn’t think this will be a big problem.

“They are inexperienced but it’s not their fault, they’re just young and we haven’t put them out there,” Marbut said. “I’m just expecting them to compete and give us their best every time they’re out there. They’ll be prepared, Coach Swenson will have these guys prepared.”

In addition to returning starters and bench players the Cougars have added 13 freshmen to the roster, many of which may make an impact on the team this year.

Two such freshmen are Tanner Chleborad, who is currently the Sunday starter, and Ty Jackson, a right-handed pitcher and first baseman out of Kennewick.

“Tanner is very, very talented and was the only high school player from South Dakota drafted,” Marbut said. “He’s in the weekend rotation right now, that first weekend he’ll throw on Sunday. Offensively, Ty Jackson is doing a really good job of swinging the bat and pitching for us.”

For freshmen, there is a lot of adjusting to do, making the switch from high school athletics to the college ranks.

“High school is just not as fast,” Jackson said. “In college if you miss one day it’s like you missed a week in high school. So you just want to be on top of everything and work as hard as you can.”

The first home series for the Cougs is Feb. 24 to 26, a four-game series with Nebraska-Omaha. Pac-12 play begins on March 16 with a three-game series against Arizona in Tucson.