PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – It's a big trip for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team this upcoming weekend, as the Hawks travel to Fairfield, Connecticut to continue Northeast Conference play against Sacred Heart University starting on Friday, March 24.
 
The Hawks sit at 4-16 and improved to 2-4 in the NEC with a series win at LIU this past weekend, while Sacred Heart is 9-8 and 5-1 in the NEC with a sweep of Stonehill College in their second week of conference action.
 
Honing on the Hawks
 
Last week was a good one for the Hawks, going 3-1 on the week by picking up their first midweek win since 2000 against UMBC and taking the series with the Sharks. The start of week six was a little less exciting as UMES mistakes hurt in a loss to visiting Mount St. Mary's.
 
Brantley Cutler has been pacing the Hawk offense this spring, slashing .300/.350/.443 with a team leading 21 hits, 19 RBIs and is tied for second with two home runs.
 
The hottest hitter on the team the past five games has been Derrick Mayes II, playing on fire by hitting .353/.458/.765 with a team leading six RBIs, five walks and four doubles. He is currently first in the conference with seven doubles this season.
 
Dillon Oxyer has been raking up the hits with seven over the past five games and Riley Horner sits at seventh in the nation with six sacrifice bunts on the season.
 
Evan Nibblett, Noah Covington and Nick Gatton have anchored the starter weekend roles for the Hawks so far this season, each with five starts. Covington and Nibblett both have been long men with 33.1 and 30.2 innings pitched each, while Gatton has gone shorter starts with his power arm but lent two outings out of the pen the last two weeks.
 
Currently Covington sits at first in the nation in walks allowed per nine innings, surrendering just his first and only free pass last weekend at LIU.
 
The pen has been led lately by Caden Parker and his bulldog mentality as a closer, grabbing three saves during week five – including on back-to-back days. His four saves this season are the most for a Hawk since Devin Repine in 2018.
 
Raymond Smith has turned in four quality showings for the Hawks out of the pen with a clean ERA over 4.2 IP and Gary Hallmen, Jr. has proved himself a commodity with a 3.68 ERA over 7.2 IP. Blake Rebstock has not allowed an earned run in his past two appearances.
 
Piloting the Pioneers
Sacred Heart has quickly turned things around after a 12-41 year, their lowest win total aside from the Covid-19 shortened season since 2008, and already sit at 9-8. They've been battled tested as well, taking on Boston College on Wednesday (March 22), as well as the likes of UNC-Asheville and Wofford earlier in the spring.
 
The Pioneers are one of the top hitting and pitching teams in the NEC, leading the conference in both batting average and earned run average.
 
Sam Mongelli has been a monster for the Pioneers, going .438/.500/1.219 in 64 at bats, hitting seven doubles, three home runs and going a perfect seven-for-seven on the bases. Mongelli was the NEC Player of the Week following Week Two and is currently second in the nation in hits per game and runs per game, 17^th in batting average and 12^th in doubles per game.
 
Of regular players, seven Pioneers hold an OPS over .700, plus key reserve Gino Manicchio was NEC Rookie of the Week for Week Five.
 
For the Pioneers pitching, only Jack Kramer and Jake Babuschak have started each week, relying on a strong bullpen to do much of the work – Kramer leads the two with a 4.84 ERA over 22.1 innings. Michael Boyian is being stretched out as a starter with two so far this season and four overall appearances and has been successful with a 2.35 ERA over 15.1 innings.
 
From the pen, Tyler Briggs and David Aufiero have been the backbones with a combined 21 innings pitched, both carrying ERAs under three.
 
Something the Hawks may want to exploit when on base is stealing, the Pioneers' catching staff has caught just four would be base stealers in 35 attempts.
 
How to Follow
 
Game ones and two of the series will be played as a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m. on Friday (March 24) and the getaway game comes at noon on Sunday (March 26). Incoming weather to Fairfield may alter the weekend schedule with updates provided on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore athletics website.
 
Live Stats and streaming audio will be provided by Sacred Heart University and as always, follow along with the action on Twitter via @ESHawksBase.