Inside the Series: Today's game will be the fourth all-time meeting between Hartford and Georgetown with the Hawks owning a perfect 3-0 record in the previous meetings. The initial game in the series came in 1996 with the Hawks posting a 10-1 victory at Georgetown in the fourth game of the season. The next two games came as a doubleheader that served as the season opener in 1998. The Hawks won the first game of that doubleheader 9-8 and posted an 11-4 victory in the nightcap.

A Glance at the Hoyas: Georgetown opened its 2014 slate with a three game weekend at Wake Forest College in Winston-Salem, N.C., dropping a 5-1 decision to Marshall in the season opener. Against the host Demon Decons the Hoyas fell 3-2, before dropping the weekend finale against Towson 9-1. The Hoyas were led by senior Steve Anderson who finished the weekend with three hits in 11 at bats while driving in a run and scoring twice. Junior infielder Ryan Busch finished the weekend with a pair of doubles against Wake Forest and was one base five total times for a .357 on-base percentage. On the mound, sophomore righty Matt Smith led the three starters, pitching five innings and allowing one run on three hits. Junior right hander Jack Vander Linden also pitched five innings in his first start, leading the bullpen with 10 strikeouts.

The Rotation: For the season opening series, the Hawks will rely on the leadership of their top two pitchers from the 2013 rotation, junior lefty Sean Newcomb and senior right hander Brian Hunter. The pair will pitch the first two games of the series, the Friday doubleheader, while sophomore Brian Murphy is slated to pitch the final game of the series on Saturday. Hunter led the Hawks pitching staff last season, finishing his junior campaign with a 3.71 earned run average, pitching a total of 68 innings and allowing 43 runs, 28 of which were earned. Newcomb pitched a season-high 72 innings and finished the year with a career-best 92 strikeouts, which also led the team. Murphy finished his rookie season with a 4.36 earned run average, appearing in 15 games all out of the bullpen.

Next on Tap: The Hawks second series of the season will be a three-game slate against George Mason as the Hawks travel back to Virginia for a second-straight weekend. The series is scheduled to open on Friday, February 28 at 2:30 p.m. with single games also set for Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) at Spuhler Field.

Newcomb Gets National Attention: Junior lefty Sean Newcomb has been listed among many of the top-50 players to watch in the coming season and most recently was named to the Preseason All-American Third Team by Baseball America. The Baseball America Preseason All-America teams are a product of a poll of major league scouting directors who make their selections based on performance, talent and professional potential. In Baseball America's Major League draft listing, Newcomb was listed as the 19th overall pick. The junior hurler finished last season with a career-high 92 strikeouts, earning America east First Team All-Conference honors after setting a conference record with 78 strikeouts in league play. Included in that was a single-game career-high of 12 against Binghamton, the most by a single pitcher in the America East in the 2013 season.

Building on Last Season: Junior right fielder Ryan Lukach is the only Hawks who enters the 2014 season with a hitting streak on the line after closing out his sophomore campaign with at least one hit in the final five games. He finished that stretch 6-for-19 at the plate with five RBI. Two of his six hits went for extra bases, both doubles, while he also scored five runs, including what was the game-winning run in the second to last game which forced a win-and-in scenario for the Hawks in their season finale against Stony Brook.

Lukach & Carter Tabbed Captains: Third year head coach Justin Blood announced the leadership for his 2014 Hartford Hawks squad, senior Ryan Carter and redshirt junior outfielder Ryan Lukach. "Every day it is our goal to have energy and effort with direction," said Blood. "These two student-athletes have earned the right from their teammates to be captains because they are very consistent with that philosophy." The Hawks everyday right fielder in 2013, Lukach is a three-time captain who looks to build on a team-best .292 batting average last season. Carter, a right-handed pitcher, closed out his junior season with seven appearances on the mound, three of which were starts. Primarily a relief pitcher, Carter pitched 10 innings and allowed 13 hits overall.

What's on the Menu: Head Coach Justin Blood announced a 52-game schedule for his third season at the helm of the Hawks in 2014. The schedule includes 43 dates, highlighted by games against four NCAA Tournament teams from 2013. "We are very excited about the 2014 schedule," said Blood. "It features 13 games against opponents the program has never faced and nine games against programs that participated in the NCAA tournament in 2013. Our non-conference schedule will be very competitive and should prepare us well for our America East slate" The first 13 games will all come on the road as they beat out the winter weather in the Northeast by traveling south. A 19-game home schedule will start with five-straight games at Fiondella Field beginning with in-state rival Yale University.