The Stetson Hatters will be back in action at Melching Field on Tuesday night when the Black Bears from the University of Maine stop in for a single game.
First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
The 19th-ranked Hatters are in the middle of an 11-game stretch of home games that will continue this weekend with a four-game series against Harvard. Stetson has already played nine home dates during the 2012 season, which matches the total home dates on the schedule for visiting Maine.
The Black Bears are in the middle of a season-opening 24-game stretch on the road. Maine does not play its first home game until April 4.
Maine (3-5) opened the season with a bang, downing then 16th ranked Clemson 6-5, but is coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of No. 8 Florida State. The Black Bears were outscored by the Seminoles 34-2 in that series.
Maine will continue play in Florida this week with games against Western Michigan, Illinois State, Bowling Green and Fairfield in Winter Haven.
The Hatters are coming off their first shutout victory of the season, a 5-0 win over Georgia State on Sunday. Stetson will send freshman right-hander Josh Powers to the mound against Maine. It will be the second start of the year for Powers, who pitched five shutout innings at Bethune-Cookman last Tuesday.
Maine is expected to counter with either freshman Luke Morrill (0-0, 0.00) or sophomore Mike Connolly (0-1, 11.37). Both right-handers saw action on Friday night at Florida State.
Following the single game against Maine, the Hatters will open a four-game series against Harvard (0-3) on Friday. The Crimson was swept in a season-opening series at Arizona over the weekend and will begin a 10-game stretch in Florida on Friday. Harvard will also play three games and Bethune-Cookman and three at UCF.
The series against Harvard includes games on Friday, Saturday and Monday at 6:30 p.m. with a 4 p.m. start on Sunday.
Hatters Quick Hitters
● Stetson maintained its spot at No. 19 in the latest Collegiate Baseball poll. The Hatters are up one spot to 12th in the PerfectGame.com poll. Stetson was 31st in the preseason NCBWA poll (top 40) but did not make any of the first three weekly polls (top 30). The Hatters are down three spots to 35th in the latest ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
● The Hatters are ranked No. 1 for the fourth consecutive week in the CollegeBaseballDaily.com Mid-Major poll.
● Stetson will be without the services of sophomore outfielder Kyle Zech indefinitely after he suffered a shoulder injury while diving for a fly ball in the game against Southern Illinois.
● The leftfield job will likely be a platoon situation while Zech is out with sophomores Robert Bruce and Kevin Lindheim sharing time with junior James Rasmussen.
● The Hatters have played three of the six teams from the America East Conference over the years. In addition to posting a 6-2 record against Maine, Stetson is 1-0 against Stony Brook and 0-1 against Maryland-Baltimore County.
● Senior third baseman Ben Carhart had a phenomenal week at the plate last week, banging out three hits in three of the Hatters’ four games, raising his season batting average 76 points to .420.
● As a team, the Hatters hit just .280 last week with just Carhart (.556) and junior catcher Sam Kimmel (.400) hitting better than .300.
● Senior second baseman Robert Crews is just shy of breaking a Stetson career record, although it is not a mark he really wants to have. Crews is two strikeouts shy of tying the all-time mark of 164 set by Rusty Beale from 2000-03.
● Freshman Josh Powers will get his second start of the year on Tuesday against Maine. Powers worked 5.0 shutout innings last week at Bethune-Cookman, allowing just three hits while striking out five.
● Junior right-hander Kurt Schluter will put one of the longest active win streaks in the nation on the line Friday night when he takes the mound against Harvard. Schluter has won 11 consecutive decisions and has not taken a loss since April 20, 2010, against USF.
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