It will be perfect baseball weather -- 75 degrees with no wind to speak of andplenty of good seats available for late-arriving fans -- when the Hamline baseball team starts the 2013 season Thursday, February 21 against Northwestern (MN) at 4:30 p.m.

Of course, we are speaking of playing at the Metrodome, not Midway Stadium.

The Pipers open their season under new head coach Jim Weyandt (at left with assistant Jim Egan doing one of the many little jobs D-III coaches do -- separating uniforms) with the first of five doubleheaders (plus a single game against the U of Minnesota) in downtown Minneapolis. 

The Pipers made a late playoff run a year ago but finished 18-22 overall in Jason Verdugo's final season as head coach.

Weyandt, who had been a longtime assistant to Verdugo, needs to replkace a couple of starters but also has plenty of familiar faces on hand as 2013 starts up. Jordan Rubbelke, Jordan Buck and Tyler Johnson -- all of whom hit .333 last season -- return to the lineup. So does OF Cam Smith, who started 30 games last year in the outfield, Mark Radmacher, who played all 40 at first base and, the most versatile of all Pipers, 3B-P Dan Ellefson.

Ellefson only batted .231 but he appeared in 14 games as pitcher, fired four complete games and ended up 4-5 with a snappy 2.31 ERA. He also led the staff with strikeouts (42) and innings pitched (62.1). Right behind him on the mound was Matt Eickman (3-6, 10 starts, 59.1 innings).

Ellefson and Buck were All-MIAC picks a year ago. 

The two most notable losses from last year: DH Andy King (.331, 24 extra base hits including six home runs and a team high 37 RBI) and C Ben Richardson, who started every game last year. 

The Pipers' bulging nearly 50-player roster includes 12 seniors and 13 freshmen. One second-year player who Weyandt may be watching carefully is Joe Rubbelke. A talented hockey player, injuries hobbled him to such an extent he had just 24 at bats last year. If healthy, he may be ready to challenge for a starting infield spot. 

And there are others, too, who may be ready to move in and get playing time.

But this is what Thursday's DH -- and the subsequent games leading up to the March 30 MIAC opener at St. Thomas -- is really all about. Weyandt and his staff will be doing some mixing and matching to see what works and what doesn't.

The Pipers were picked for eighth in the coaches' annual pre-season poll.  It's fact that Weyandt says he pays little attention to ... for good reason.

He was an assistant on the 2011 team that was also picked to miss the playoffs. Instead, they won a school record 29 games, including the conference postseason tournament and a first-ever NCAA tournament game.