COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Terps open an eight-game homestand Friday when they host the Delaware Blue Hens at Shipley Field at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium. Maryland and Delaware are set to play at 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Live stats can be found here, while WMUC Radio will broadcast all three games at WMUCSports.com.

Leading Off...
• Maryland's series against Delaware marks the home debut for head coach Erik Bakich. An assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt for the past seven seasons, Bakich brings a unique, agressive and exciting style of baseball to College Park.
• Known as one of the best recruiters in all of college baseball, Bakich and his staff wasted no time in making an impact on the recruiting trail. In November, the Terps signed their first nine recruits under Bakich, securing the top-two ranked players in Maryland and four other prep recruits ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in their respective states. Maryland also added two junior college transfers who will be expected to contribute immediately in 2011.
• Bakich's blue-collar style has garnered praise from baseball insiders around the country as he attemps to turn the tide of a program he deemed a "sleeping giant."
• "Will beats skill every single time," Bakich recently said. "We are going to be out-skilled on paper when you line up our roster next to the so-called juggernauts of college baseball in our conference. But nobody has out-trained us, nobody has out-worked us, nobody will out-hustle us and no one will out-will us."
• The Terps were swept last weekend at FIU but received solid offensive performances from David Poutier (4 for 11) and newcomers Brandon Padula (3 for 7) and Jack Cleary (4 for 10).

Tracking the Terrapins...
• The Terps return the majority of their pitching from 2009, including strikeout leader Brett Harman, ERA leader and closer Dan Gentzler, as well as rising pitchers Eric Potter, Sander Beck and Adam Kolarek.
• Maryland will have to replace the majority of its offensive production, as A.J. Casario, Mike Murphy and Will Greenberg, who were three of the top four leaders in batting average, have graduated or moved on to the professional ranks.
• David Poutier (.321/47 runs/29 RBI) and Alfredo Rodriguez (.252/21 runs/12 RBI) are Maryland's lone returning starters.
• Tyler Bennett, Matthew Murakami and Mike Rozak are other returnees with starting experience.

About the Blue Hens...
• Delaware enters the series with Maryland at 0-3 after opening weekend losses to Kansas State, The Citadel and East Tennessee State.
• The Blue Hens were picked to finish fifth in the 11-team Colonial Athletic Association. Delaware returns three position starters and nine pitchers from 2009, including Preseason All-Conference picks Carlos Alonso, Ryan Cuneo and Rich O'Donald.
• Alonso went 7-for-14 with four RBI and one home run last weekend, while Cuneo went 6-for-14 with a homer and four RBI.

SERIES HISTORY: Maryland leads the all-time series with Delaware 11-7-1. The teams split the series last season as each team won at home.

From club baseball to Terps' closer...
• Relief pitcher Dan Gentzler has evolved into one of the top relievers in the ACC after walking on to the team in 2008 after previously playing club baseball at Maryland. Gentzler led the team last season with a 3.13 ERA and had a team-high seven saves, the third most in a single season in school history. The senior made a team-high 28 appearances in 2009 while holding batters to a .250 clip.

Beck shines in summer league... • Sander Beck, who was 2-0 with 43 strikeouts compared to just 14 walks as a freshman in 2009, had a productive summer pitching in the Cal Ripken, Sr., Collegiate Baseball League. Beck, now a sophomore, was named the league's co-most outstanding pitcher after tallying a 1.56 ERA with Youse's Orioles. He pitched a team-high 40 1/3 innings on his way to a 6-1 record, striking out 28 batters, while holding opponents to a .192 batting average.

Power deficit...
• Maryland's biggest question mark entering 2010 is offensive production. Mike Murphy, who batted .318 with a team-high 12 HRs and a team-best .606 slugging percentage, was lost to graduation. Murphy ranks in the top 5 of nine different career batting records (398 total bases, 2nd; 91 extra-base hits, 2nd; 145 RBI, 3rd; 795 at-bats, 3rd; 56 doubles, third; 32 HRs, t-3rd; 150 runs, t-4th; 240 hits, 4th; 90 walks, t-5th).
• Overall, Maryland has to replace 65 percent of its run production and 66 percent of its RBI from 2009.

Pitching surplus...
• Maryland will rely on pitching and defense early in the season. The Terps return 11 pitchers that accounted for 350 of 469 innings pitched in 2009. (.746 percent). Harman, who led the team with a 3.75 K/BB ratio in 2009, returns and will serve as the No. 1 starter. Potter, a 6-foot-3 lefty from Crofton, Md., made great progess as a sophomore, going 2-2 in 17 appearances (seven starts), and will serve as the No. 2 starter. Beck and Kolarek, a junior, are expected to battle for the final weekend starting job.
• The Terps ranked fifth in the ACC with a .968 fielding percentage last season, and return three players with starting experince in the infield. Rodriguez started 40 games at shortstop last season and will be the stalwart at that position. Murakami played in 34 games with 15 starts last season and will take over at second base. Poutier slides over from second base to third base to replace the departed Mike Murphy.

New looks at catcher, in the outfield...
• Maryland will have an all new outfield as Gerry Spessard and Dan Benick graduated, while Casario moved on to the professional ranks. Brandon Padula, a transfer from West Virginia, will take over in left field. Mike Rozak, a senior, will step in at center field, while freshman Jon Wilson will play right field. Redshirt freshman Jack Cleary earned the job at catcher after sophomore Tyler Bennett suffered an injury. Cleary will likely be backed up by freshman Zach Fisher and junior Tom Bailey.