Maryland Readies For Tuesday Matchup Against Delaware State

April 24, 2006

Coming off a decisive one-run victory over No. 24 Wake Forest in the series finale on Sunday, the Maryland Terrapins (18-25) will face two tough mid-week tests as they try to remain undefeated in non-conference home games. The Terps host Delaware State on Tuesday, April 25 before welcoming Towson to Shipley Field for the second time this year on April 26.

Entering this week's contests, Maryland is 7-0 in non-conference games at Shipley Field, including an upset over No. 15 Old Dominion and one-run victories over George Washington, Duquesne and James Madison. Overall, the Terps are 11-8 against non-Atlantic Coast Conference foes and 10-6 at home.

Following a three-game weekend set against then-No. 24 Wake Forest, the Terps rank as having played the fifth toughest schedule in all of college baseball. They hold an RPI rating of 59 (0.5535) and own nine wins over top-50 RPI teams. So far this season, the Terps have knocked off a ranked team seven times, including No. 3 North Carolina and No. 25 James Madison on the road and No. 14 Miami, No. 3 Georgia Tech (twice) No. 15 ODU at Shipley.

Maryland is 5-1 against Delaware State all time, the lone defeat coming in the teams' last meeting on April 9, 1991. A member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), the Hornets are 13-25-2 overall following a 6-3 win over Norfolk State on Sunday. The victory pushed their league record to 5-5, good for third place in the standings out of seven teams. Delaware State represents the first of three MEAC squads Maryland is slated to play in 2006. The Terps will take on Maryland-Eastern Shore in a May 10 doubleheader in College Park before closing out their regular season schedule against Coppin State the following day.

On Wednesday, Maryland and Towson will square off for the third and final time this year. Thus far, the schools have split the season series with each winning once at home. The Terps fell to the Tigers, 9-2, at Schuerholz Park on March 14 before evening things up with a 5-3 win at Shipley on April 5.

Both games will be broadcast live online by WMUC Sports at www.wmucsports.com. Nick Sekkas and Edan Algazy will be doing color and play-by-play for Tuesday's game and Matt Ray and Mark "Swan" Butman have the call on Wednesday. First pitch for both dates is scheduled for 7 p.m. Right-handed pitcher Ryan Moorer (1-0, 4.10 ERA) is expected to start against Delaware St. and freshman John Dischert (3-3, 7.68) is a leading candidate to get the nod vs. Towson.

Scouting the Hornets

Delaware State is hitting .272 as a team over its first 39 games. The Hornets are powered on offense by juniors Tyler Hostetter and Brandon Gravely. A cleanup-hitting shortstop, Hostetter leads the team in batting with a .342 average to go along with 13 doubles and seven steals. Gravely, DSU's starting first baseman, has slugged a team-best eight home runs while hitting at a .340 clip. He also paces the club with 34 RBI and a .589 slugging percentage. Outfielders Jon Ricketts and C.J. Acker have also been productive at the plate, hitting .396 (in 24 games) and .338, respectively.

As a pitching staff, the Hornets have compiled an ERA of 7.48 and feature only one player with a winning record (RHP Chase Korneman, 2-1). Josh Schmidt leads the team with 21 appearances on the mound (16 in relief), sporting a 6.41 ERA and 1-6 mark. Right-handers Billy Keyes and Nick Bitter have both made 10 starts on the year, each with a record of 4-5. Keyes has tossed three complete games for Delaware State in a team-high 67.1 innings. The Hornet bullpen has yet to record a save in 2006.

Maryland Readies For Tuesday Matchup Against Delaware State

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