The University of Maryland baseball team travels to Duke this weekend for a critical Atlantic Coast Conference series with potential ACC Tournament bids on the line.

The Terps come into the weekend with a 25-19 overall record and 7-14 mark in ACC play. Duke is 29-13-1 and 6-13-1 in the ACC. The Terps are currently half a game out of the final tournament spot while Duke is one game back.

Maryland won last weekend's series at home against No. 21 Georgia Tech for its first series win against a ranked team since taking two of three from then-No. 6 Clemson last March.

Starting pitching could be the key to this weekend's series as all three of Duke's weekend starters boast ERAs under 3.0.

Sophomore Scott Swinson (Ellcott City, Md./George Washington University) will pitch Friday's series opener against Andrew Wolcott. Saturday will feature a pair of southpaws on the mound when Brett Tidball (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep) takes on reigning ACC Pitcher of the Week Christoper Manno and his 4-0 record. Senior Kevin Biringer (Albuquerque, N.M./Bradley University) will throw Sunday's series finale for Maryland against Jonathan Foreman of Duke.

Both Maryland and Duke have been fantastic in non-conference play this season as the Blue Devils are a perfect 23-0 and the Terps won 14 in a row before having their streak snapped Wednesday at Towson.

If the Terps can win two games this series, they will win nine conference games for the first time since 1980. Maryland has not won 10 ACC games since 1972.

Sophomore AJ Casario (Pine Hill, N.J./Overbrook) has been on a tear at the plate for Maryland. Casario has driven in 18 runs his last seven games, including two grand slams. In the last couple weeks, Casario has raised his average 120 points to .270 and taken the team lead in RBIs with 35.

Senior Nick Jowers (Beltsville, Md./DeMatha Catholic) continues his excellent senior campaign for the Terps, batting a team-best .360 with a .460 on-base percentage.

The Blue Devils boast a team ERA of 3.47. Both the Terps and Devils are excellent fielding teams. Duke leads the ACC with a .977 fielding percentage while the Terps are third at .974.

Duke has six players hitting over .300.

Audio of all three games will be available online at WMUCSports.com.

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