PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – It's the second week of Northeast Conference play for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team as they head to Brooklyn, New York for a three-game series with Long Island University starting on Friday, March 17, at 3:00 p.m at LIU Baseball Stadium.
UMES (2-14, 0-3 NEC) is riding high, grabbing a well-earned victory over visiting UMBC on Wednesday (March 15) in a game that saw
Derrick Mayes II and
Alex McCoy both blasting three-run bombs, while the pitching staff was able to overcome 11 walks and five hit batters with ten student-athletes taking the mound.
Honing on the Hawks
It's another shot for the Hawks to get their first NEC victory this weekend against LIU (1-14, 1-2 NEC), a perennial contender in the conference. Both sides look to get things going, as the Hawks sit at 2-14 and the Sharks at 1-14 after a 3-22 drubbing against St. John's on Wednesday.
The sides have not met since 2010 when the Hawks dropped a three-game series to the Sharks, who hold an overall 7-2-1 record on UMES.
Brantley Cutler has been leading the way for UMES at the plate, currently slugging .288/.344/.442 with two home runs and 14 RBIs. Meanwhile, McCoy has proved himself a consistent presence at first hitting .280/.345/.420 and is five-for-five on his steal attempts.
Dillon Oxyer has been heating up, batting .437 over the last five games and providing defense at both shortstop and third base.
Jason Brown has been a great piece off the bench by going a perfect three for three stealing, while throwing opposing pitchers off their timing due to his threat, and also picking up four starts this season in the outfield.
On the mound expect to see
Noah Covington and
Evan Nibblett get two of the starts for the Hawks,
Nick Gatton – the usual Saturday starter – was used during the meeting with UMBC. Covington is tied with six other regular starters in the country in walks allowed with zero, allowing just four through a team leading 25.2 innings pitched.
Out of the pen,
Caden Parker has turned into the Hawks most reliable arm, picking up a save in both wins for UMES.
Porter Braddy's 7.20 ERA looks deceiving, but the lefty freshman has just found some hard luck and has proved himself a reliable option to work with as he is fourth on the team following the regular starters in strikeouts and innings pitched.
Scouting the Sharks
LIU enters the weekend after a 1-2 series with Farleigh Dickinson to open NEC play and the loss to St. John's sink the team even further after finishing 37-21 in 2022.
The Sharks are sluggers, leading the conference in home runs with 19 – Jake Mastillo leads the way with seven after knocking three against FDU last weekend. Outfielder Carlton Harper has shown he can get on base with a .383/.431/.433 line.
A Hawks pitching staff that has struck out 111 should take advantage of a free-swinging LIU squad, sitting at 161 strikeouts, second most in the conference, although they have also drawn the second most walks with 69.
While the offense has been flowing for LIU, the pitching is working up to season form, sitting at eleventh in the conference with a 12.68 ERA. The Sharks have allowed a NEC leading 213 hits through 15 games and opponents batting .385 against.
Alec Huertas has been the regular starter for the Sharks, as LIU has scattered the rest of their season over six other student-athletes, he sits with an 8.50 ERA over 18 innings. James Stiednl has been the most reliable option out of the pen with five appearances and a 3.86 ERA.
How to Follow
The series will be streamed this weekend via NEC Front Row, a free webcast provided by the NEC, with Live Stats provided by LIU and as always, updates on Twitter via @ESHawksBase. Weblinks are available the University of Maryland Eastern Shore athletics website.
