STARKVILLE — Jacob Robson is excited.

After a season in which he hit in a variety of spots in the Mississippi State baseball team’s lineup, the junior outfielder is ready to be a table-setter. And when your leadoff hitter feels good about what is coming behind him, it usually leads to plenty of action on the basepaths.

Robson hopes that is the case this season as MSU tries to rebound from a 24-30 (8-22 in the Southeastern Conference) finish in 2015. He spent most of MSU’s 12 intrasquad scrimmages hitting in the leadoff position and likes the depth the Bulldogs have to round out a lineup.

“I think this year, as a group, depth wise and even the starting nine we put out there, I think we have the potential to be the best hitting team in the conference,” Robson said. “That’s what we expect this year. We have tons of talent, we have tons of desire and a bunch of hard workers that work together and bounce things off each other. I’m really confident about our offense.”

Robson will get his first chance to see it all come together at 4:30 p.m. Friday (SEC Network+) when No. 20 MSU plays host to Florida Atlantic in its season opener at Dudy Noble Field.

Robson paced MSU last season with a .324 batting average. Juniors Cody Brown (.309) and Luke Reynolds (.304) also return from 2015, but Robson feels this year’s squad has the potential to be as good or better than the 2013 team that went to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, and had a .293 team average. Adam Frazier, who had a school-record 107 hits, and Hunter Renfroe, who hit .345 and had 16 home runs, led a team that lost to UCLA in the College World Series Championship Series.

Last season, MSU saw its batting average dip to .271 (.262 in the SEC). Like Robson, Reynolds feels the offense has improved.

“The sky’s the limit for this team. This team’s got a lot of potential to put up a lot of runs,” said Reynolds, who enters the season on a 10-game hitting streak.

Last season, MSU coach John Cohen used several lineups due to injuries. He also mixed combinations in an attempt to spark the offense. This season, Cohen probably will use a lot of lineups again, but he said he will do that because the Bulldogs have a lot of options and depth.

With a four-game weekend to open the season, Cohen said he will try to play as many players as possible to give them an opportunity to make a bid for one of the starting position.

“I think with the way it has been set up and the way we evaluate, it will be a difficult decision because there is so much competition,” said Cohen, who added pitching depth is the team’s biggest strength, but the depth on offense could rival it by the end of the season.

Robson said he doesn’t know what he would do if he had to fill out a lineup card every day. He expects Cohen to platoon players at several positions.

Reynolds said deciding who will start likely will be “super hard” for Cohen because there will be some good hitters sitting on the bench when the games begin.

“The ones that aren’t playing can start for any other SEC team,” Reynolds said. “This team is filled with talent, and I can see us having multiple lineups early in the year.”

Dudy Noble Field always has been known as a “pitcher friendly” park because of its size. The reduced power in the bats used in the college game made it even harder for hitters, but MSU hopes the changes it has made in the past year, including moving in the right-field fence slightly, will help it score more runs. Last season, the Bulldogs hit 10 of their 22 home runs at home. Brent Rooker, Reid Humphreys, Nathaniel Lowe, Cole Gordon, and Jack Kruger hope to help change that by hitting more doubles and home runs

“It goes when they connect on the barrel,” Robson said. “We’re really working as a team to try and stay sort of line-drive mentality. If we catch it out front a little bit more and get it a little bit under the barrel, they’re going to be home runs. I’m looking forward to seeing some home runs.”

Humphreys leads the team with six career home runs. Rooker has two, while Lowe, Gordon and Kruger have yet to play for the Bulldogs. Lowe played his freshman season at Mercer. Kruger began his career at Oregon. Lowe didn’t hit any home runs at Mercer, but he hit 17 home runs for St. Johns River (Fla.) State College last season. Kruger hit a lone home run at Oregon and one in junior college.

MSU’s offense also could receive a lift from its freshman class, including catcher Elih Marrero and infielders Hunter Stovall and Luke Alexander. Cohen said Stovall and Alexander will get opportunities early in the season and have a chance to be big contributors.

“They’re full of talent,” Reynolds said of Stovall and Alexander. “They’re gritty and looking to come in here and show us what they’ve got and they have. I’m looking forward to what they’re going to do this year.”

Entering the 2013 season, pitching was MSU’s strength and it faced questions about its offense, which is a similar situation to this season. The 2013 team rose to the challenge at the plate, which is something Robson thinks will happen this season.

“Whoever rises to the occasion will be rewarded for it,” Robson said. “I’m not going to be surprised who the person is that rises to the occasion. I think everybody’s capable of doing it, and I’m excited to see who it is.”

Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait

Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.