It's a matchup of 30+ win teams from a year ago as the Alabama State baseball team is headed to Louisiana to open the 2016 season in a three-game weekend series at Northwestern State.
 
The Hornets and Demons will play Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Get live stats for all three games at bamastatesports.com.
 
Alabama State is coming off its third consecutive 30-win season, a 31-19 campaign in which the Hornets won their second straight SWAC Eastern Division crown and the HBCU National Championship. While there is a strong core of returning players, most of that experience is on the mound. With talented, but inexperienced positions players, fifth-year head coach Mervyl Melendez likes the way his mix of newcomers has grasped the Hornet Way of baseball.
 
"They have exceeded our expectations as far as where we are today," Melendez said. "I thought this team would take a little bit longer in the preparation phase to be game ready, but they've shown a lot of positive things. By no means do we know exactly what's going to happen this weekend, but we have a pretty good idea what type of team we have."
 
With all of the 2012 incoming freshman class that was the foundational core of 120 wins over the past four seasons not departed, Melendez and his staff have enjoyed the challenge of molding a new mix of players.
 
"I love the challenge of getting a team ready," said Melendez, who is one victory shy of 500 in his career as he begins his 17^th season as a collegiate head coach. "We've been spoiled the last two years as that group became upperclassmen to watch them perform based on how they had learned and grown in the game. With the current team, it's been fun. They've grasped the system quickly. They're young, but some of them being junior-college transfers are experienced, just not at the Division I level. It's fun to see the maturity of this group."
 
Northwestern State has posted back-to-back 30-win seasons, and was 31-23 in 2015, finishing second during the Southland Conference regular season. The Demons return 17 lettermen, including five positions starters and four starting pitchers under fourth-year head coach Lane Burroughs.
 
"Among the things that standout is how well we believe they will be coached," Melendez said of Burroughs, who prior to leading Northwestern State was the recruiting coordinator at Mississippi State for four seasons, helping lay the foundation for the Bulldogs' national title game appearance in 2013. "Northwestern State is known for having great coaches. They've had the best of the best to come through there. We understand the tradition, we understand what we're getting ourselves into, and we know what type of program them have."
 
All that said, Melendez relishes the challenge, a principle that has been at the core of ASU baseball since he took over heading into the 2012 season. Among opening weekend opponents in the past four years has been 25^th-ranked UC-Irvine (2012) Chicago State (2013), Eastern Kentucky (2014), #7 Louisville, and #17 Cal-State Fullerton (both in 2015).
 
"It is always good to open against great teams, which we have done in the past," Melendez said. "We know what Northwestern State will bring to us. We expect three great games. It may come down to one or two runs each game. We don't know that yet, but we're going to be ready to play the game, and play the game the right way."

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