The Terps went on the road last weekend to face top 10 LSU in warm Baton Rouge. That's tall order for any team to take, especially with a new skipper at the helm. It proved too much for the Terps, dropping all three games: 1-0, 5-1, 14-3. The starting pitching from Jimmy Reed and Brady Kirkpatrick was very good. Unfortunately, LSU's pitching was just as good and their hits more timely.

Shift to this weekend. Oakland (Michigan, not California) came to Shipley Field for a four game set. Due to predictions of bad weather for Saturday the teams played doubleheaders on Friday and today. The Terps prevailed in all four games. I can't imagine how Friday's games got played as the wind chill must have been in the 20s. However the Terps' bats got hot and only today's second game was close. In fact, it went into extra innings for a thrilling come from behind victory.

Some observations on the Terps season so far:

1. The weekend pitching will be Reed, Kirkpatrick, and either one of two freshman: Alex Robinson or Kevin Mooney.

2. The bullpen loomed large in the series against Oakland. Especially impressive was freshman Brandon Casas.

3. Charley White is a fantastic lead-off hitter. Besides an awesome OBP he's swiped something like 8 bases already.

4. Tom Keine has not played so far due to a hand injury. Let's hope it's not serious and that he'll be back soon. His power bat is strongly needed (pun intended).

5. Freshman LaMont Jordan and Kevin Matir, along with JuCo transfer Blake Schmit have been impressive. Senior Jordan Hagel has continued to swing a hot bat.