The 61st season of Jacksonville State baseball begins this weekend as the Gamecocks travel to Forest City, N.C., to face Appalachian State in a three-game series.

“We are definitely excited to start the season,” said JSU head coach Jim Case. “We do have a lot of games on the road and we have been a good road team in the past, but every year is different.”

Jacksonville State, which is the defending regular-season champions, has been the most dominating team in the Ohio Valley Conference since joining the league for the 2004 season. JSU has posted an impressive 95-40 record in OVC play, which is 14 more wins than second place Austin Peay's total of 81-48, and their 70.4 winning percentage is well ahead of the Govs total of 62.8 percent.

The Gamecocks have averaged 19 Conference victories a season over that time period, have two regular season championships (2005, 2008), a pair of tournament championships (2004, 2006) and two tournament runner-up finishes (2005, 2007). This marks the fourth time Jax State has been the preseason favorite to win the title and the third year in a row.

Case returns seven position starters and 15 lettermen from the 2008 team that posted a 23-4 OVC record, including winning their final 14 straight conference games. It was the most conference wins by any team in the OVC's 47-year history.

Junior right-hander Ben Tootle, a preseason All-American by almost every national publication, has been tabbed the preseason Pitcher of the Year and will take the mound to open the 2009 season.

The Oxford, Ala., native was named first-team All-OVC after leading the conference with an impressive 10-2 record with two shutouts in 2008. He finished the season with 79 strikeouts, which was the second most in the OVC, and had a 3.87 earned run average. He was named OVC Pitcher of the Week three times during the season after going a perfect 8-0 against conference members.

Baseball America named Tootle as the fourth-best prospect from this summer's Cape Cod League, while ESPN's Keith Law has named the Gamecock pitching ace as the 13th best prospect in the country for the 2009 season. The 6-foot-1, right hander was a relief pitcher for Falmouth this summer and was selected to the Cape Cod All-Star Team after posting a 1.97 earned run average in 22 appearances. He finished with a 3-3 overall record with five saves.

Bert Smith, Steven Leach, Bert Smith and Tootle have all been named preseason All-OVC by the league's head coaches.

Cunningham, who was named the OVC freshman of the year last season, was named to the preseason team after batting .340 with 73 hits, an OVC-best 65 runs, 16 doubles, three triples, a home run, 30 RBI and six stolen bases in 2008. He was also named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-Amercian last season after starting 56 of the team's 57 games and all 27 OVC games, in which he posted a .356 average.

Smith, who has earned All-OVC honors for the three straight seasons and first team accolades for two straight years, was named as the preseason second baseman. Smith finished the 2008 season batting .332 with 56 runs, 39 RBI and 15 stolen bases after missing the first few weeks of the season due to shoulder surgery. He also hit .389 in OVC games and finished the season with a hit in 15 of his last 16 games.

Leach was named preseason as the utility player after batting .354 with 81 hits, 49 runs, 15 doubles, four homers and 58 RBI in his first season in an everyday role for the Gamecocks. The Decatur, Ala., native started the year at third base and also split time at first base throughout last season. Against OVC foes, Leach batted .360 with four homers and 30 RBI.

Case said that several newcomers are expected to make an impact this season, including Kyle Bluestein (OF), Sam Eberle (3B), Heath Wall (SS), Daniel Watts (LHP) and Aaron Elias (RHP).

Friday's opening game will begin at 4 p.m., while Saturday's game begins at 2 p.m. and Sunday's game is scheduled for 12 noon.