PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – The University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team is taking a trip to Arlington, Virginia in the first midweek of the season against George Washington, University at 2:30 PM Wednesday, February 22.
 
The Hawks had a home-and-home last season with the Colonials, coming out on the losing end of both matches 3-8 and 3-10.
 
Both squads are looking for their first wins of the season, the Hawks dropping three to North Carolina A&T over the past weekend and George Washington losing three to #11 East Carolina on the road.
 
Hopeful Hawks
 
It's early in the season for UMES and head coach Brian Hollamon knows the team needs to begin to stack up wins before conference play. Coming off a three-game series against the Aggies where the Hawks were close but couldn't get the correct timely hits, he expects that to change soon.
 
"I just think that at some point we gotta just win ball games," Hollamon said following the series at NC A&T. "We keep playing with everybody, we just gotta get over the hump – it's that time."
 
Riley Horner was the first Hawk this season to pick up Northeastern Conference honors for his efforts against the Aggies, going .385/.429/.329 – garnering a Prime Performer nod from the Hawks new conference. Derrick Mayes II also had a great weekend, batting .300/.300/.600 with his first collegiate home run.
 
On the mound, the Hawks threw nine pitchers in relief during the trip to North Carolina, with no earned runs against and a large promise from the young freshmen class. Noland Genies and Alec Greenblatt are two fresh arms that could both see a start against the Colonials, although the starter has not been announced as of yet.
 
Calculating the Colonials
 
George Washington got the season started against one of the best in the country with East Carolina, a baseball powerhouse over the past few seasons – dropping all three meetings in Greenville.
 
Sam Gates led George Washington against the Pirates coming off a missed season due to injury. The sophomore center fielder went 5-11 and hit a home run in the season finale. Transfers Brett Young, Robby Wacker and Bryan Bello all each had solid weekends as well, Wacker coming away with a team leading four RBIs.
 
It was rough going on the mound out of the pen for George Washington against one of the country's best offenses, giving up nine, 11 and 23 runs against the Pirates. George Washington has yet to announce a starter and he is expected to be named shortly before game time.
 
How to Follow
 
The game is scheduled to be shown on ESPN+ for subscribers, with free Live Stats provided by George Washington, links for both are provided on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore website. Updates will also be provided on Twitter via @ESHawksBase.