PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland – It's the home stretch of the 2023 season for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team as Fairleigh Dickinson University visits town for a three-game set of Northeast Conference action starting on Friday, May 5.
The Hawks sit at 15-27 (11-10 NEC) with a chance at making the NEC Tournament, currently as the sixth seed, and the Knights have a solid 26-16-1 (16-8 NEC) record and hold the third spot in the conference.
Honing on the Hawks
A much-needed rest was earned by the Hawks during the week following an 11-game road stretch, skipping the usual midweek. During the grind, UMES went 6-5 overall and 4-2 in the NEC – the Hawks picked up just their sixth ever win against Navy on the trip.
Brantley Cutler and
Brian Cordell were on fire while the Hawks were on the road, helping carry the offense along the way to some of the best baseball UMES has seen all season.
Cutler on the season has been the most consistent Hawk, starting every contest in right field with a .359/.412/.577 line with 56 hits, 11 doubles, seven home runs and a triple. His batting average ranks 173
rd in the nation and fifth in the NEC, while his 42 RBIs are fourth in the conference and is tied for third in Hawk history since 1992.
Also roaming the outfield and getting done at the plate, Cordell has picked up back-to-back NEC Prime Performer nods for his efforts. With a 1.326 OPS over the last eight games, the Pasadena native would rank in the top-ten over the entire season.
At 58
th in the nation in stolen bases per game and sixth in sacrifice bunts, the Hawks have been using their speed to help drive the offense when the sluggers need a boost. Five Hawks rank in the top-70 nationally in sacrifice bunts –
Luke Myers and
Riley Horner are tied for 19
th overall at eight.
An anchor of that speed has been first baseman
Alex McCoy, who leads the team at 19 stolen bases and .46 per game, both top-80 numbers in Division 1. His 29 runs scored leads the Hawks.
Expect the usual rotation of
Kyle Speas,
Noah Covington, and
Evan Nibblett to take the mound for the Hawks as the trio leads the second-best pitching staff against NEC opponents.
Since taking over as the Friday starter against Sacred Heart on March 24, Speas has been everything a coach could want out of a freshman lefty. He has averaged 5.1 innings in his six starts with a 4.13 ERA and is holding opposing batters to just a .213 batting average against.
After losing the top spot in walks allowed per nine innings over the past few weeks, Covington has regained the top spot at just .71 allowed per over his conference leading 76 innings pitched with just six free passes on the season. Holding a team leading 53 strikeouts, ninth in the conference, Covington is fourth in the nation at 8.83 in strikeout to walk ratio.
Rounding out the weekend rotation on Sunday, Nibblett is currently second in the NEC with a 3.42 ERA over 68.1 innings. His 1.17 WHIP is currently first in the conference and is on pace to supplant his career best of 1.18, which would put him second since 1992 in the Hawk record book, a mark he set last season.
The bullpen has relied heavily on the combo of stopper
Nick Gatton and closer
Caden Parker in tight games by throwing the pair a combined 71.2 innings pitched.
Often picking up for the Hawks in the seventh to bridge to Parker, Gatton has appeared in 22 games this season – 17 out of the pen. If the season ended today, the fireballer would be fourth in a season since 1992 at 8.8 strikeouts-per-nine in a season.
Parker has already made his way into the Hawk record books with eight saves on the season, putting him first for the Hawks since 1992.
Defensively, the Hawks are still one of the best teams at turning double plays, sitting eighth in the country with 42 and fifth in per-game at one, largely banking on the infield pair of
Dillon Oxyer and Myers.
Knight Knowledge
FDU was pegged to be one of the teams to beat in preseason voting at third overall and have proved themselves as a threat to win in all come tournament time. The Knights have enjoyed playing at home with a 15-5-1 record in Teaneck, New Jersey but have gone .500 on the road so far.
Since the start of the season FDU has been relentless in the box – leading or in the top five conference wide in all major hitting categories combined as a team. Although the slugging has been beyond impressive with 54 team home runs, the .422 OBP and 104 stolen bases will have Hawk catcher
Kyle Cincinnati on alert – the Knights have been caught stealing 25% of the time.
Hunter D'Amato has been the soul of the offense this season with a .385/.462/.533 line while manning the hot corner and just had a 40-game on-base-streak snapped on Wednesday (May 3) against Monmouth. He's a threat to steal from the middle of the lineup at 23-30 this spring.
The heavy lifting for the Knights is done by Luke Cantwell and Tom Ruscutti, both with averages over .333 alongside 12 and 10 home runs, respectively. Cantwell holds a staggering .518 OBP, Ruscutti has a 30:27 BB:K ratio.
Outfielder Justin Sierra may only be reaching base at .316, but once he's on the bases the Hawks must hold him as he is 28/31 and ranks 12
th in the nation.
While the hitting has been phenomenal for the Knights, the pitching has lagged just a bit behind, sitting in the middle of the pack overall in most major statistical categories. The Hawks may be able to work some extra bases with FDU ranking sixth nationally with 84 hit batters and allows 6.16 walks per nine.
Rich Racobaldo, Jude Braxt and Ethan Rembish have been the main weekend starters for the Knights this season – although Braxt has not played since April 21 against Norfolk State. Nicholas Feretic filled in for Braxt this past weekend at Central Connecticut State in which he gave up two over 5.1 innings.
Racobaldo leads the starters with a 4.19 over 58 innings to a 1.45 WHIP and is striking out just over a batter an inning.
In the pen Patrick Gardner has been the go-to guy for the Knights, he holds a 4.64 ERA is holding opponents to just a .235 average. He's tied with Brendan Medoro with three saves.
Behind the pitching staff the Knights have been solid with a .968 fielding percentage and have allowed 17 stolen bases at a 28% rate.
How to Follow
First pitch of the series is set for Friday (May 5) at 3:00 p.m. at the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex in Salisbury, with game two on Saturday at 1:00 p.m., and the series finale at noon on Sunday.
Live Stats will be provided with a link available on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Athletic Department website. Follow the action on Twitter via @ESHawksBase.
