PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – It's the final homestand for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team as the regular season concludes with a three-game Northeast Conference set against longtime rival Delaware State University starting on Thursday, May 18.
 
In addition to the series having huge NEC Tournament implications, it will also be a celebration of the Hawk seniors and graduate students with a pregame ceremony coming on Saturday before first pitch.
 
Honing on the Hawks
 
Currently on a five-game skid, the Hawks (16-34, 12-15 NEC) will need some offensive output this weekend to get back on the winning track against Delaware State (12-33, 7-20 NEC). Last time the two teams squared off was a heartbreaker for UMES in the 2022 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, falling 10-11 to end the season.
 
Brantley Cutler will be looking to drive that offense and continue to climb up the record books in one of the best hitting seasons for the Hawks in recent history. Going into the series, since 1992 for a single season, he ranks second in home runs with nine, RBIs at 46 and 108 total bases, as well as fourth at 65 base hits and if the season finished today, he would be fifth with a .574 slugging percentage.
 
Steadily reaching base and finding themselves in scoring position, Luke Myers and Alex McCoy have brought different aspects that have helped fuel the Hawks. Myers has an impressive 18:29 K:BB ratio and McCoy has stolen 21 of 24 bases this season.
 
In the outfield, Brian Cordell steadied himself after a slow start, outplaying his .240/.333/.372 line with an impressive stretch that gave him two-straight NEC Prime Performer nods just a handful of weeks ago. He's gone 13 for 16 on his steal attempts and is second on the team with four home runs.
 
Defensively, the Hawks infield continues to be a top double play team, ranking ninth in the country in both total double plays and double plays per game thanks to Myers and Dillon Oxyer. Kyle Cincinnati ranks first in the conference with 23 runners thrown out from behind the dish.
 
On the mound, expect the normal weekend rotation of Kyle Speas, Noah Covington, and Evan Nibblett to work their magic.
 
Since taking over as the Friday starter in March against Sacred Heart, Speas has pitched 45.1 innings over eight starts but is still searching for his first win of the season. In those starts he has a 3.77 ERA and struck out 31.
Covington turned into the nation's best control artist in his final season, as he has walked just six batters over a conference leading 87 innings – a mark that puts him fifth so far in the single season record book since 1992. His .72 walks allowed per nine is the best in the nation his 8.43 strikeout to walk ratio ranks sixth.
 
There's no one else the Hawks would want on the mound for Saturday in the regular season finale with Nibblett, one of the steadiest starters in the conference. His 3.65 ERA and 79 innings pitched are both third in the NEC, his 1.82 walks allowed per nine is 34^th in the country and second in the conference.
 
If the Hawks find themselves in a bind, the duo of Nick Gatton and Caden Parker, they rank one-two in appearances out of the pen conference wide and sit at three and four in the Hawk single season record book. Parker is also the current single season record holder in saves at nine.
 
Freshmen Joe Kelly, Ray Smith, and Donovan Gevers each have been called upon recently to get the Hawks through the middle innings. Gevers has made three-straight scoreless appearances.
 
Dissecting Del State
 
After reaching the MEAC title game in 2022, the Hornets have had a rough spring during the transition to the NEC. DSU has taken just one conference series this season, against Norfolk State, and is currently coming off being swept by Coppin State.
 
Trey Paige continues to tear it up whenever he steps to the plate, hitting .361/.456/.650, as one of the top players in the conference. He's tied with teammate Chris Amparo with eleven home runs on the season, while also being efficient when he runs with ten stolen bases in thirteen attempts.
 
Brothers Evan and Krew Bouldin have also been monsters with similar slash lines, Evan at .327/.422/.451 with 53 hits, and older brother Evan at .315/.437/.424 and 52 hits.
 
While the hitting has continued to flow for the Hornets, the pitching has run into copious amounts of issues and sits at a conference worst 9.21 as a team.
 
Nathan Vidmar has picked up 13 starts this season, sitting at a 7.48 ERA and has walked one more batter than struck out. Jordan Haddaway has made 18 appearances, with five starts, with a team leading 5.21 ERA among qualifiers.
 
Out of the pen the Hornets have used Hiram Davis in the highest leverage opportunities, he holds a 5.01 ERA and has struck out 23.
 
Breaking Down the NEC Standings
 
The series will be the most important in the Hawks season, sitting on the outside looking in at a NEC Tournament position at seventh in the conference behind Merrimack, the sixth seed. Luck in other games within the conference will also have the Hawks scoreboard watching to see their fate.
 
Tiebreakers within the conference also will come into play due to UMES taking down current fifth seed Long Island University 2-1 in the season series but falling 1-2 to the Warriors. Additional tiebreakers exist within the conference at Sacred Heart University and Wagner concerning seeding, as well as Coppin State still being in contention if both the Hawks and Merrimack are swept.
 
Sweeping the weekend against the Hornets would get the Hawks back to .500 in the NEC and put them in the best place to make the trip to New York – even possibly becoming a fifth seed if the conference goes haywire.
 
How to Follow
 
Game one of the series is set at the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex in Salisbury with first pitch coming at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday (May 18) and game two at the same time on Friday. The final game of the series will have first pitch coming at 1:00 p.m., with the Hawks celebrating the seniors and graduate students that will be leaving the program at 12:30 p.m. before the meeting.
 
Live Stats will be provided by the Hawks, with a link available on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Athletic Department website. Updates are also live on Twitter via @ESHawksBase.