It was 6 degrees outside before I left for the airport this morning, and hours from now West Virginia’s baseball team opens its season. The Mountaineers are on the road at No. 24 Clemson for a three-game homecoming for former Tigers outfielder, pitcher and assistant coach Randy Mazey, who later in the season will play host to a three-game series against the Charleston Southern program of which he was once head coach.

WVU lost just about all its pitching — seriously, it’s ridiculous how little Mazey returns — and a lot of the aluminum from the Big 12’s top hitting team last season, the one that was picked to finish in seventh place in the preseason poll and did just that on the way to a 28-26 record. This season, the Mountaineers were picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll, and understand the Big 12 has four teams in the preseason top 10.

And perhaps then you can understand why Mazey just doesn’t understand it.

“I can’t figure that out,” WVU head coach Randy Mazey said. “I think somebody’s playing a joke on me, honestly.”

Mazey’s concerns begin on the mound. He used 13 pitchers last season and they combined for 478 1/3 innings. He brings back just two pitchers, 21 appearances and 61 1/3 innings.

“That’s got to lead the nation,” said Mazey, who’s 61-52 in two seasons at WVU. “I can’t imagine anybody returns less pitching than we do. So picturing us anywhere other than the bottom couple of teams is crazy.”

While we’re discussing rule changes today, four years ago college baseball took some of the life out of its bats, and power and scoring have dropped noticeably ever since. This season, we’re getting new, more lively baseballs.