Although he probably doesn’t think of it in those terms, Eric Wolfer played a key role in the disappointing finish of the Muhlenberg baseball team last year.

Wolfer suffered a season-ending injury in the Mules’ ninth game, causing a ripple effect on the squad’s already-thin pitching staff. A hurler slotted for middle relief had to be moved into the rotation, leaving the bullpen weak.

Muhlenberg had the same four pitchers start every game the rest of the

Three Mules recorded their 100th career hit in 2006, and Hart, a career .327 hitter, is four away from the milestone.

year, and they combined to throw more than 70 percent of the staff’s innings. Although the Mules started out 7-1 in the Centennial Conference, mostly on the strength of their hitting, they won just one of their last 13 games and finished with an overall record of 15-20-1.

Pitching depth should not be a problem this season, the first for new head coach Corey Goff. Muhlenberg will head to Orlando, Florida, where it is scheduled to play nine games in six days beginning Sunday, with 16 pitchers on its roster.

“It’s great for us,” said Wolfer. “Potentially we could have eight starters instead of just four. We’ll have lots of guys who can give us innings in middle relief and at the back end of the bullpen.

“That has always been our weak spot,” he added. “Hopefully we’ll be able to go farther this year with all this pitching.”

Farther as in back to the Centennial Conference playoffs. Muhlenberg finished fifth last year, one spot out of the final playoff berth, and Wolfer is one of eight returning seniors who would like to finish their careers with a shot at the championship.

Whereas the team has many new names on the pitching staff, the offense consists of familiar ones – which is a good thing. The Mules finished 2006 with a .336 batting average, their highest since 1928, and set school records for runs (308) and hits (438) in a season. They ended up 23rd in Division III in scoring, 27th in batting average and seventh in triples per game.

Nine of the 11 players who hit over .300 are back, led by second-team All-Centennial Conference selection Pete Oris. The third baseman hit .429 with five home runs and a school-record 41 RBI. He enters his senior season needing 23 RBI to become the program’s all-time leader.

Oris is part of a potent infield that also returns seniors Ryan Sassaman (.371, 26 RBI, 15 stolen bases), Mike Hart (.333, 14 RBI) and Matthew Block (.271, 16 RBI). Sophomores Brad Auerbach (.309) and Edward Risener (.316) also figure to see time at short and first, respectively.

In the outfield, Muhlenberg welcomes back all three starters in sophomore Eric Hammond, who earned All-CC honorable mention after hitting .417 (a school record for freshmen) with 28 RBI, junior Joe Carlo (.363, three home runs, 20 RBI) and sophomore John Kalis (.341, school-record 13 doubles). Sophomore Chris Costa saw considerable action as a defensive replacement.

Senior A.J. Bettini and junior Danny Asip split time behind the plate, with Asip hitting .329. Bettini hit .333 and received All-CC honorable mention as a sophomore.

“I definitely think the offense is very strong,” commented Wolfer. “We have some very good freshman hitters, so we should be just as strong this year, if not better.”

The pitching staff returns all four starters: senior southpaws Jason Bonder and Tom McDonald, junior Paul Faith and sophomore Joseph Barrese. Bonder, McDonald and Barrese tied with sophomore Mike Misciagna, who made 17 appearances out of the bullpen, for the team lead with three wins.

A new coach has the Mules thinking about even more wins, and the work it takes to achieve them. “It’s lit a fire under people’s butts,” observed Wolfer. “It’s like we’re all freshmen, and we need to bust our butts every day to prove to coach what we can do.”