COLUMBUS – The Columbus State University baseball program opens the 2025 campaign on the road at West Alabama for a three-game series this weekend at Tartt Field in Livingston, Ala.
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Jan. 31 – 6 p.m. ET
Saturday, Feb. 1 – 3 p.m. ET
Sunday, Feb. 2 – 2 p.m. ET
 
Matchup vs West Alabama
 
Columbus State is 23-20 all-time over the Tigers and are currently on a four-game winning streak. The two teams last met in Columbus back on April 9, 2024, where the Cougars secured a 5-2 victory to go 2-0 against the foes from Livingston in the 2024 season. CSU has also dominated the last 10 games against the Tigers, producing an 8-2 record.
 
Scouting the Tigers
 
West Alabama finished the 2024 season with a 21-26 record and went 12-18 in Gulf South Conference play. UWA went 14-13 on their home turf last season in Head Coach Eric DuBose's debut campaign at the helm of the program.
 
Previewing the Cougars
 
Columbus State finished last season with a 33-21 overall record and a 17-10 slate in Peach Belt Conference play. The Cougars were selected to finish third in the PBC in the preseason coaches' poll. 2025 will be the year of new faces as a group of 23 incoming student-athletes look to impress their mark on the program.
 
There will be 19 home contests at Burger King Stadium at Ragsdale Field for the 2025 season with 29 contests on the road. 27 contests will take place against PBC foes.
 
Head Coach Greg Appleton will enter his 28th season at the helm of the program on Friday while Associate Head Coach Patrick Collins enters his 23rd season. Appleton has gone on to produce a 967-500 record as the leader of the Cougars.
 
"Our team this year has a lot of new faces," Appleton stated. "We have 23 new players in our program with a good amount of baseball talent, but we do not have a lot of game experience at the DII level. We will have to grow quickly."
 
Several key pieces will be returning on the mound to anchor CSU with new depth added as well.
 
"Our pitching staff is anchored by senior starts, Trace Goforth, Ryan Suppa, and Eric Moore," Appleton mentioned. "We will lean on these guys to pitch a lot of innings for us."
"We are also returning our closer, Peyton Burton, who has been with us for a couple of seasons," said Appleton. "The staff has good depth with quality arms, but the experience is lacking a little."
 
Goforth went 8-3 last season and pitched 73.2 innings a season ago, posting a 4.03 ERA. He tallied a save and totaled 83 strikeouts. Burton marked a 3.18 ERA while throwing 28.1 innings of relief, posting a 1-3 record in the process. Suppa made 12 appearances and went 3-1 while pitching for 48.0 innings. Moore went 1-1 in just 4.0 innings tossed with only 14 at-bats.
 
CSU will be looking for the new standouts who will fill the roles from a season ago as five starters in the lineup graduated. For returners, the pair of Cody Ferguson and Jackson Chizek will help solidify the middle infield while Ian King secures home plate as the go-to catcher. In addition, senior utility player Andrew Rubin will be looked upon to help lead the Cougars.
 
"Graduation took a big chunk of our lineup last year with five starters leaving," Appleton added. "We return a very solid middle infield combo in Ferguson and Chizek as well as our guy Ian who is back to do the catching behind the plate and utility man Rubin who is in his senior campaign. We will depend on some young guys to fill some big roles offensively."
 
As for the offense a year ago, the Cougars hit for .306 as a squad. Ferguson is the leading returner who batted .323 last season with 75 hits, 33 RBI, and six homers while notching a .400 on-base percentage.
 
Kole McGlumphy batted for .322 and notched 47 hits and five doubles to follow. Rubin and Chizek produced averages of .281 and .268, respectively. Rubin notched 10 doubles a season ago and recorded 55 hits while Chizek recorded 29 RBI on 49 hits.