Preparing to play its fourth game in four days, the Terrapin baseball team and coach Terry Rupp are worried about pitcher management.

Because of Friday’s rain out against Coastal Carolina and a looming four-game weekend series, Rupp knows he will have to stretch his pitching staff starting with today’s home opener. Rupp plans to give freshman left-hander Eric Potter his first-ever collegiate start against Towson at 2 p.m today. Potter will likely be limited to three or four innings before the Terps reach into the bullpen.

But Rupp doesn’t think fatigue will be a huge factor in today’s game, and he mentioned how the cramped schedule might even benefit his squad going into ACC play.

“We’ve had an opportunity to play a lot of different people, and right now we’re looking at a lot of different combinations,” Rupp said. “We’ll keep putting a lot of different players out there to get ready for [Florida State].”

In last weekend’s three-game tournament, Rupp used three different lineups, something that will be common for this year’s team as junior Jensen Pupa is the team’s No. 2 starting pitcher as well as one of the team’s better hitters.

Another example of the Terps’ plan to use a number of different players came when junior catcher Mike Moss had a pinch-hit two-run homer Sunday in his only at bat of the weekend.

“That double-header on Saturday was kind of a wake-up call for your body, but I think we are a little more relaxed and definitely ready to go,” said senior infielder Steve Braun. “In the fall we really worked hard to prepare ourselves mentally and physically. This is what we love to do.”

Luckily for the Terps, Towson is facing the same issues after a series at St. Mary’s College of California last weekend.

After splitting the first two games of the series, the Tigers’ scheduled double-header on Sunday was canceled due to rain, and the team returned home from their cross-country flight around 11 that night, according to a Towson athletics spokesman.

Towson is led offensively by senior right fielder Brian Conley, who hit .335 with 11 homers during their 21-30 2007 season. The Tigers were predicted to finish 10th in the Colonial Athletic Association by league coaches in a preseason poll.

The Terps and Tigers split their two-game season series last year, and Maryland leads the overall series 33-25, with a 10-8 record in Rupp’s tenure as coach.

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