Wildcats Begin Three-Game Series Against Miami (OH) Friday

Catching the Action

Admission to Wilson Field is free. Live video and live stats will be available for all three games. Twitter updates will be available from @DavidsonWildcat.

LEADING OFF

	Davidson (2-3, 0-0 SoCon)	Miami (1-5, 0-0 MAC)
Friday (6 p.m.)	RHP Danny Mooney (1.29, 1-0)	LHP Seth Varner (4.09, 0-1)
Saturday (2 p.m.)	RHP Ryan Lowe (2.57, 0-0)	RHP Nathan WIlliams (7.04, 0-1)
Sunday (2 p.m.)	RHP Nick Neitzel (1.29, 1-0)	RHP Ryan Powers (6.52, 1-1)

- Davidson returns to Wilson Field for its second of six consecutive weekend series at home. The Wildcats are coming off a close 7-5 defeat to No. 6 NC State. It was the first game this season in which Davidson trailed entering the ninth inning.

- LF Lee Miller batted 6-for-7 with two doubles in the first two games this season, and is now batting .500 to lead the team and rank second in the Southern Conference. He also has a team-best three doubles and .714 slugging percentage. RF Nathan Becker leads the team with six RBIs, which all came Sunday thanks in part to his first career grand slam. RHP/DH Ryan Lowe is tops on the team and in the SoCon and in on-base percentage after tying a school, single-game record with four walks Sunday against The Mount. Leadoff batter CF Forrest Brandt has also gotten off to a strong start, batting .318.

- Brandt and Lowe are the only two Wildcats remaining that have reached base in each game this season.

- RHP Danny Mooney was the 'Cats' top pitcher the opening week, pitching an inning at Wake Forest and not allowing an earned run in 6.0 innings against Fairleigh Dickinson Friday.

- RHP Matt Saeta has been the relief ace, nearly getting a two-inning save at Wake Forest and closing out FDU. He also pitched the final 1.1 innings against No. 6 NC State, and has yet to allow an earned run in 4.1 innings pitched.

THE SERIES

VS. MIAMI (OHIO): In the only meeting between the two teams, Davidson swept Miami in a doubleheader in 1996 in what was then Wildcat Park. Davidson overcame five errors and six unearned runs to win the first game, 10-8, as Jeff Andrews and Luke Goodwin both had three-RBI games. The 'Cats walked off on an error in the bottom of the seventh inning in the second game to win, 6-5.

SCOUTING MIAMI

After dropping its first five contests of the season, including a three-game sweep to Arkansas State, Miami earned its first victory of the season at Lipscomb. Sophomore outfielder Jake Romano is off to a torrid start to the season. After going 0-for-7, Romano is 9-for-17 over his current four-game hitting streak, posting multiple hits in each game. The 2013 MAC Freshman of the Year is a perfect 5-for-5 in stolen base attempts and he has already hit three doubles to match last year's 34-game total.

LAST TIME OUT

Davidson was unable to overcome a grand slam by Chance Shepard, as No. 6 NC State defeated the Wildcats, 7-5, in non-conference baseball action Tuesday evening on Doak Field at Dail Park. The game was tied 1-1 entering the fourth inning, but with one run across, the bases loaded and none out, Shepard (1-for-4) slugged his first home run of the season over the fence in left field to give NC State (7-1) a 6-1 lead.

Davidson (2-3) did not fold though, as freshman RHP Westin Whitmire came on to end the inning, and the Wildcats answered with four runs in the top of the fifth inning. The 'Cats strung together back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases, and then the fourth consecutive by third baseman David Daniels (2-for-5) drove in two runs. Designated hitter Ryan Lowe (1-for-3, 2 BB) hit Davidson's fifth straight single to load the bases again. Freshman first baseman Brian Fortier (1-for-4) then hit into a fielder's choice to drive in a run, and a throwing error on the play allowed another run to score.

However, RHP Andrew Woeck (1-0) entered in the fifth for NC State and was able to keep the Wildcats' bats in check. Over four innings, he struck out five, allowed three hits and two walks, and worked out of a bases loaded jam with one out in the seventh inning. RHP Jon Olczak (2) retired the side in the ninth inning for the save. Centerfielder Forrest Brandt led the 'Cats at the plate, going 3-for-5, while Fortier joined Daniels with a team-best two RBIs.

NOTES

STABLE AT THE TOP: Head coach Dick Cooke has not changed the order of the top six batters through five games this season, going with Brandt (CF), Daniels (3B), Lowe (DH), Fortier (1B), Becker (RF) and Foy (2B).

BLANKED: Davidson used five pitchers in its shutout win over Mount St. Mary's (2/23). It was the first time Davidson had five pitchers combine for a shutout since 2009. The final three pitchers used against The Mount - Cody White, Jonathan Carkhuff and Chase Plebani - were making their collegiate pitching debuts.

WALK THIS WAY: Ryan Lowe tied a school record for walks in a game with four against Mount St. Mary's. Many have achieved the feat, but Lowe was the first to do it since Michael Zeblo '13 in 2012.

DOUBLE DUTY: Ryan Lowe is one of 28 players in the country this season that is in the everyday lineup and weekend pitching rotation.

LEADOFF LEADOFF: Senior Forrest Brandt has been batting leadoff for the first time in his career this season. He had typically batted second, third or fourth, but he led the team last season with 11 stolen bases.

GRIDIRON TO DIAMOND: Senior Jonathan Carkhuff became Davidson's all-time passing leader as a four-year starter for the football team, but is now concluding his Wildcat career as a relief pitcher. He had not played competitive baseball since high school, where he was an all-area player. Carkhuff made his debut against Mount St. Mary's (2/23), contributing to a combined shutout with a scoreless inning in which he surrendered two hits and a walk.

GRAND OPENING, PART 2: Davidson's past two home opening weekends have featured grand slams. Forrest Brandt hit one in the season opener against George Washington in 2013, and then Nathan Becker hit one against Mount St. Mary's (2/23) in the final game of the 2014 opening weekend.

EXTENDED OPENING: Davidson's season opener at Wake Forest (2/18) was the first to even enter extra innings since 1930, and at 12 innings, was the longest in school history.

FLIP-FLOP: After snow forced the cancelation of Davidson's opening series against Buffalo, soggy conditions on Wilson Field also forced Davidson to flip-flop its home-and-home series against Wake Forest. The Wildcats traveled to Wake Tuesday for their opener when they were supposed to host, but they will now host the Demon Decons on March 18.

BUILDING MOMENTUM: Last season's team finished with its most wins in conference in eight seasons, despite a completely revamped starting rotation from 2012 and 19 different pitchers seeing game action, including six freshmen. In total, Davidson is returning over 82 percent of last season's innings pitched.

POWER OUTAGE: The offense has two big holes to fill, as 19 of the team's 39 home runs will not return due to the graduations of four-year starting infielders Michael Zeblo and Andrew Barna. However, the 2013 'Cats improved the team batting average by 20 points from 2012, and returns its top-three in the category: team captains Forrest Brandt and Ryan Lowe, as well as, Nathan Becker.

WILSON FIELD IMPROVEMENTS: A new scoreboard is in place in right field, as well as an all-new fence across the entire outfield. New padding behind home plate, in between the dugouts, has also been added.

SO LONG SOCON: It will be Davidson's final season in the now 10-team Southern Conference, as the Wildcats will move to the Atlantic 10 for the 2015 season. All 10 teams will be included in the conference championship tournament in Charleston, but the top-six in the regular season standings will avoid a play-in round.

'CATS VS. THE BEST: Davidson's last win over a nationally-ranked team was in 2011 against No. 21 College of Charleston. The Wildcats have gone 0-7 since against nationally-ranked teams, but have had three one-run losses: No. 6 North Carolina, 4-5 (3/6/12), No. 3 South Carolina, 1-2 (5/2/12) and No. 6 NC State, 3-4 (4/23/13). Most recently, they yielded a two-run decision at No. 6 NC State (2/25), 7-5.

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