Terps Face Delaware St., JMU This Week
4/11/2011 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 11, 2011
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland baseball team has a pair of mid-week games on tap as it plays host to Delaware State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before traveling to Harrisonburg, Va., for a matchup with James Madison on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Maryland (15-17), which is coming off a 7-6 win at Clemson on Sunday, has a 6-1 record in mid-week contests this season and will look to a pair of veterans to further improve that mark.
Senior lefty Eric Potter (2-4, 5.20) will start on the mound Tuesday, while junior right-hander Sander Beck (2-3, 4.95) gets the ball on Wednesday. Potter is holding opponents to a .211 batting average, has 30 strikeouts, 25 walks and has given up 21 earned runs in 36 1/3 innings this season.
Beck was the winning pitcher in each of his last two appearances, logging four innings of scoreless relief against George Mason on March 30 and allowing four runs in 5 2/3 innings in a start at West Virginia on April 5. On the year, Beck has 35 strikeouts and 31 walks while allowing 20 earned runs in 36 1/3 innings.
Freshmen Austin Kilbourne, Tim Kiene and Charlie White, and junior Alfredo Rodriguez, have helped Maryland hit 31 points above its season average over the last six games. Kilbourne is 8-for-15 , Kiene 6-for-19, White 7-for-21 and Rodriguez 9-for-22 over that stretch. Michael Montville, another freshman, returned from injury last weekend and had the game-winning hit in Sunday's 7-6 win.
-- Scouting the Opponents --
Delaware State, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, represents the ninth different league Maryland has played against this season. The Hornets are 15-16 overall and have won nine of the last 11 after sweeping a doubleheader with Coppin State on Sunday.
Junior infielder Scott Davis leads DSU in hitting (.431), hits (47), runs (33) and doubles (10). Sophomore infielder Ryan Haas is second on the team in hitting at .363 and six other Hornets are at or above .300.
Elliot Gardner (1-4, 7.09), a sophomore right-hander, is expected to start on the mound. In nine appearances, seven of them starts, Gardner has struck out 34, walked 16 and allowed 26 earned runs in 33 innings. As a team, the Hornets have a 4.64 ERA with 196 strikeouts to 93 walks.
Maryland leads the all-time series with Delaware State 6-1. The Terps won the last meeting between the two teams, 8-5, on April 25, 2006, in College Park.
James Madison (22-11) ranks in the top-10 nationally in several offensive categories, including home runs (first with 62), runs (second with 332) and hitting (fourth at .336). Nine of JMU's 10 everyday starters are hitting above .300, led by senior shortstop David Herbek's .403 mark. Herbek has 13 home runs, while junior catcher Jake Lowery has a team-high 17.
The Dukes are the third team from the Colonial Athletic Association that Maryland has played this year. The Terps beat Delaware 8-0 on March 8 and George Mason 3-2 on March 30.
The starting pitcher for JMU has yet to be determined. As a staff, the Dukes have a 6.83 ERA with 243 strikeouts and 184 walks.
James Madison has a 29-21-1 advantage in the all-time series after sweeping a pair of games from the Terps in 2010.
