All the familiar sights and sounds were present. The smacking of the ball into the leather gloves. The ping of the aluminum bat meeting the ball and sending it into the blue sky. The playful banter between teammates as they ready themselves for another baseball season.

Then one remembers it is mid-January. In Wisconsin. And the UW-Platteville baseball players were practicing outside.

The abnormal outdoor winter captains' practices were the perfect beginning to what promises to be the most unique season in Pioneer history.

Before even formally gathering as a team, the Pioneers already have two conference records set, barring rainouts. Their Feb. 17 opener at the University of Ozarks is the earliest first-pitch in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history, and their 40 road games--necessitated by construction of their new field--constitute another league mark.

UW-Platteville officially begins its season Saturday night with the First Pitch banquet and then with practice on Sunday.

The Pioneers are coming off the best season in school history, finishing 22-21 and qualifying for the WIAC playoffs for the first time. Thanks to five runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Pioneers beat UW-Oshkosh 7-6 for their first-ever post-season victory.

Trying to carry over that excitement into 2006 will be different because of the facility situation. Antiquated Kendall Murray Field is being replaced by a brand-new stadium on the upper portion of campus, but the new outdoor track was built into left field of Kendall Murray, making it unplayable for games. While the new field is being constructed, the Pioneers will take to the road.

"We talked about it very early in the fall and addressed it," said fifth-year Pioneer Coach Jamie Sailors. "This is the hand we have, and we have to make the most of it. Hopefully this can become our rallying cry, so to speak, or something that will pull us a little closer spending time on the busses. We're going to use it to our advantage, if we can."

Sailors lined up some outstanding fields for the 2006 "home" games. UW-Platteville has five games at the University of Dubuque and eight in Madison. They have adopted the slogan "Come Along for the Ride" for the year.

"We're playing in Warner Park, which is a very nice facility, MATC, which has had a great facility for a long time, and then the University of Dubuque, which has made some really nice improvements there," Sailors said. "Those three fields will definitely be fun to play on. We'll drive a ways to get there, but we've usually played a lot of road games to begin with. It shouldn't be that different. We just have to make sure everyone gets their studies done since we will be traveling more."

The early start was done by design. Instead of one long trip over spring break in March, the Pioneers will play three weekend series in Arkansas and Missouri, beginning Feb. 17 at the University of Ozarks. No conference school has ever scheduled an earlier opener.

"It's very difficult to keep guys motivated indoors for a month or five weeks, whatever we have to do," Sailors said. "I just had the idea of trying to start it earlier. Therefore, we will use our better pitchers more often and hopefully we can pick up some early-season wins and gain some momentum going into the conference season. This gets us out of the cabin fever after a couple of weeks and makes those practices sharper. They know we don't have a lot of time to be ready for that first game. They always seem to have a lot of energy to begin practicing, but it always seems to die down in February. I hope it stays high with that carrot they're chasing a little bit closer than in the past."

The Pioneers captured the WIAC playoff carrot in 2005. They overcame a 1-10 conference start to make the playoffs. Their road back began with a 5-4 10th-inning win against top-ranked UW-Whitewater, ending the Warhawks' 19-game winning streak.

The rally over previous unbeaten UWW sparked the Pioneers, who won 14 of their final 19 regular-season games, often in dramatic fashion. UWP closed out the final games ever at Kendall Murray Field on May 1 by beating UW-Stout 10-3 and 19-5, keeping their playoff hopes alive.

On the season's final day, the Pioneers swept UW-Oshkosh for the first time since 1965, clinching the coveted playoff spot. UWP beat the Titans 8-4 and 10-9, overcoming a 9-3 eighth-inning lead in the nightcap and setting the stage for a repeat performance in the WIAC playoffs.

"As the summer grew on and even into the fall when the guys came back, we start to look back and look at the statistics, some of the games and the play-by-plays, and we remember the big hits or the comebacks," Sailors said. "Some of the performances, like Ryan Slaght's 10 (pitching) innings against Whitewater, come back, and it's great to enjoy the moment. You don't realize how special it is until you have time to reflect. It really was a special year for us."

The Pioneers returned to campus this fall with an extra burst of energy, buoyed by the confidence of last spring's success.

"Without question," Sailors said. "They were more motivated and had more hops in their steps. They had more of confidence when they practiced than we have really ever have had in the past."

Among the 18 returning lettermen are Slaght, who earned all-WIAC honors, all-conference shortstop Matt Huckstep, two-time all-WIAC player Nick Pepper, and infielder Jason Watson, who set a conference record with 38 stolen bases.

Seniors Pepper, Slaght, Watson, second baseman Brandon Ihm and pitcher Bryan Aspenson ran captains' practices this January. The players arrived on campus a week before school started to work out on their own. Taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and the new ProGrass field in Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium, the Pioneers were able to get outside.

In 2007, the Pioneers will take to their new baseball stadium. The facility will feature a fully-enclosed field with major-league style dugouts that are lower than the field and restroom and concession facilities on-site.

"It's going to make a tremendous impact on recruiting," Sailors said. "When the field is finally finished, it will be one of the better ones in the league as far as playing surfaces. It will have a unique look in that it will drop down from the level the fans are on. It will really help recruiting and really help team morale because we will now have a place to call our own and some place to take pride in. We just had the infield to take care of before, and now we'll have the whole thing. It's going to be an excellent facility."