WHAT: Washington State (0-0) at Texas State (0-0)

WHERE: Bobcat Ballpark, San Marcos, Tex.

WHEN: Fri., 4 p.m.; Sat., 1 p.m., Feb. 21, 11 a.m., Feb. 22, 3 p.m.

With six months of hard work behind them, first-year Washington State head coach Marty Lees and his players flew to the Lone Star State on Thursday anticipating a successful start to the 2016 college baseball campaign.

The Cougars will play eight games over the two weekends in Texas before returning to the Palouse.

“Hopefully, we’re ready to play,” Lees said Wednesday at his weekly press conference. “We’ve been going for a long time now. We have a group that we feel will compete right away. We have a lot of kids that are back from last year. We’ve moved some players into different positions.”

The most visible change will be front and center in Friday’s season opener. After serving as WSU’s closer in 2015, Lees and pitching coach Dan Spencer have made Hamilton a starter, hoping to take advantage of his power arm at the beginning of every weekend series.

“It‘s a little different role for him, but it’s a role we think he can tackle,” Lees said. “About 30 minutes after I got the job in June, I told Ian, ‘Are you ready to become the Friday night starter. He said, ‘Absolutely.’ I have known Ian for a while being in the Northwest.

“I have watched plenty of games he has pitched in. I just felt for our team to be where we want to be and compete immediately on Friday night, he’s quite a guy to go out there with. He is respected throughout the league and had a great summer on the Cape (Cod). He is ready to go.”

Three weeks of preseason camp consisted largely of intrasquad scrimmages as Lees got a better feel for what he has in terms of talent. His conclusion? Washington State is lagging behind other Pac-12 schools in terms of depth, something that can be solved only through recruiting over a period of time.

“Our depth, position-wise, is not (at the same level) of what some other teams have, but I really like our position players,” Lees said. “Even though they are a small group, they are connected. They all have roles they know and understand. They have all advanced their skill sets.”

Sophomore catcher J.J. Hancock suffered a hand injury sliding into second base during the final scrimmage of the camp and will be sidelined indefinitely. Thus, the catcher spot becomes a two-way battle between Stefan Van Horn and Ty Johnson.

Lees could utilize as many as three first baseman over the course of opening weekend – Wes Leow, Patrick McGrath (also play 3B) and freshman Jacob Thurber (also a catcher).

“We have some options there,” Lees said.

Jack Strunc will likely see action at both middle infield positions as Lees has made versatility among his infielders a high priority. Additionally, Shane Matheny is playing shortstop and third, while McGrath has lined up at both corner spots. Trek Stemp is able to play both second and center.

“With the limited infielders we have, we had to have guys play two positions,” Lees said. “Jack has done a very good job at second base. I feel good with him at short or second. He has shown he can do both and that is what we have asked him to do.”

Texas State returns four of their top five hitters by batting average from a year ago, The quartet of Tanner Hill, Granger Stoddard, Jared Huber and Cory Geisler combined for 206 hits, 26 home runs, 31 doubles and 130 RBI in 2015. Hill and Stoddard alone combined for 20 home runs and 85 RBI.

Weekend starting pitchers Lucas Humpal and Jeremy Hallonquist return from last season and the duo is scheduled to start Friday and Saturday, respectively. Humpal led Texas State with 80 strikeouts.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Fri – RHP Ian Hamilton (WSU) vs. RHP Lucas Humpal (TSU)

Sat – LHP Damon Jones (WSU) vs. RHP Jeremy Hallonquist (TSU)

Sun – RHP Parker McFadden (WSU) vs. LHP Jonathan Hennigan (TSU)

Mon – TBA vs. Justin Dellinger (TSU)

FIRST FIVE GAMES:

Fri. Feb. 19 at Texas State, 4 p.m.

Sat. Feb. 20 at Texas State, 1 p.m.

Sun. Feb. 21 at Texas State, 11 a.m.

Mon. Feb. 22 at Texas State, 3 p.m.

Thu. Feb. 25 at Texas Rio Grande Valley, 5 p.m.