starting nine

As the state’s NCAA Division I schools begin play, here’s nine things to ponder about the 2012 season:

1) Will Bobby Wahl’s move from the bullpen to the front of the Ole Miss rotation work out?
2) What impact will the Rebels’ new hitting coach, Cliff Godwin, and the new volunteer, ex-Rebels star Stephen Head, have on the UM attack?
3) Is UM freshman outfielder Senquez Golson as good as the Boston Red Sox thought when they offered him all that money to sign last summer?
4) Will Mississippi State’s pitching, which made great strides in 2011 (4.39 ERA), be good enough to carry a questionable offense?
5) Will MSU’s Hunter Renfroe, who blasted an MAIS record 20 homers as a senior at Copiah Academy in 2010, break out this season?
6) What kind of impact will freshmen Mason Robbins (the state’s Mr. Baseball in 2011) and Connor Barron (a third-round draft pick) have at Southern Miss?
7) Can sophomore right-hander Boomer Scarborough, another former state prep legend, be a force for a wiped-out USM pitching staff?
8) Is Alcorn State, which won the SWAC title for the first time in 2011 and returns stalwarts Steve Easter and Eduardo Gonzalez, for reals?
9) What will Jackson State’s diminutive Bahaman, Desmond Russell, do for a sophomore encore after batting .310 with 49 RBIs and posting a 4-6, 4.54 ledger on the mound?

All six D-I’s are in action today: Ole Miss is at TCU, State is home against Washington State, USM hosts Nicholls State, Alcorn plays Air Force in a tournament at LSU and Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State are in the JSU tournament.