Marlin Ikenberry likes to divide it into three.

“You have your fall season, your spring season and your summer season,” the fifth-year James Madison skipper said, “and our goal is to have all of our position players play three seasons in a calendar year. And most of the guys we have back have done that at some point, so that’s the neat thing.”

The summer provides players additional game experience away from JMU in an organization like the Valley Baseball League, and the fall is for player development back on campus in Harrisonburg. But spring is for competing and trying to win for the Dukes.

JMU opens its new campaign on Feb. 14 with the start of a three-game series at No. 16 N.C. State.

“We return every single position player,” he said. “I’m very excited. I can’t wait. We’re older and we’re battle tested, at least position-player wise.”

And that’s why the Dukes have started their practices in preparation for the season-opening set in Raleigh, N.C., so eagerly.

JMU was picked to finish sixth in the Colonial Athletic Association in the league’s preseason poll released on Wednesday.

“There’s a lot of energy right now,” junior pitcher Justin Showalter, a Turner Ashby product, said. “Everyone seems to be excited, anxious to get out there and work toward what we’ve been working on and start playing some games to see the results.”

Last year, for the first time in three years JMU qualified for the CAA tournament on the heels of a 31-24 overall regular-season record and an 11-13 mark in the conference. The highlight of the 2019 season came when the Dukes took two of three on the road from national power Cal State Fullerton.

“When we went into the CAA tournament,” Ikenberry said, “we had some freshman that had never been there before and we played a lot of ‘em. And so now, having tasted it, seen it, competed at that level and also going out to California to play against one of the top teams in the country, I feel like there’s a sense of urgency and edge that we have.

“That’s something that’s created with time.”

The names that’ll fill Ikenberry's lineup card regularly are ones that did so last year, including senior first baseman Brady Harju, who supplied a team-best nine homers to go along with 43 RBIs last spring.

Sophomore Trevon Dabney, a third-team All-CAA choice and All-CAA rookie team selection in 2019, is moving from third base to the outfield, according to Ikenberry, to accommodate room for Josh Jones.

Jones, a redshirt sophomore, is returning after missing all of last year with an injury. Senior Kyle Hayes or junior Michael Morgan will do the catching while sophomore Nick Zona plays shortstop and senior Fox Semones handles second base. Seniors DaVonn Griffin and Connor Hartigan are likely to join Dabney in the outfield.

Sophomore Kyle Novak hit .303 as a freshman last year, is the preseason All-CAA designated hitter and one of a few on the roster who can provide versatility along with sophomore Matt Dipasupil and freshmen Mason Dunaway and Chase DeLauter.

“I’d say the depth we have is really solid,” Ikenberry said, “which is nice when it comes to giving off days to guys, and it allows you to mix and match different lineups.”

What’s not as solidified for the Dukes is their pitching staff after losing four pitchers from last year’s squad to the Major League Baseball Draft.

Junior right-hander Nick Stewart projects as a weekend starter for the third time in his career and is likely to work alongside fellow right-handers Showalter and Michael Bechtold. Showalter is sliding from a mid-week starter into the weekend rotation.

“Mid-week [games] are definitely still tough,” Showalter, who faced high-major competition like Virginia and Maryland in mid-week contests last year, said. “There are a lot of teams that are tough matches, but I think that’s the beauty of it, getting to have that experience and getting to have that under my belt to prepare for a weekend role.

“You see from my freshman to sophomore year, I worked my way from the bullpen to mid-week starter. And now I’m making that transition to weekend starter, so I hopefully can contribute to CAA play and some of those more important games to help the team win this year.”

Redshirt senior Brett Ayer, an All-CAA preseason team selection, is the most seasoned reliever on the roster with 1.78 ERA and 83 strikeouts to his name over 55 2/3 career innings.