The First Saturday in April

Can you believe that here we are on the first weekend of April and there is just four weeks remaining in the regular season? And just three weeks remaining for golf and women's lacrosse? That means the games become more important in between dodging raindrops.

Franklin & Marshall at Muhlenberg (Baseball)
The Diplomats (3-2 CC, 10-9-1) and the Mules (3-2, 9-13-1) square off in a Saturday doubleheader in Allentown. F&M is second in the Conference in team batting (.344) but will have to face Muhlenberg ace Phil Cresta who was a 2nd team All-CC pick last season and has fanned 29 in 42 innings this season. The Diplomats have won nine straight to take a 60-47 lead in a series that began in 1925.

Ursinus at Johns Hopkins (Baseball)
The series between the Bears (2-1 CC, 10-6-1) and the Blue Jays (2-1, 9-8) is renewed on Sunday (after last weekend's rainout) with Hopkins holding a 65-21 all-time lead with victories in the last six contests. The doubleheader pits the two winningest coaches in Conference games in Centennial history - Ursinus' Brian Thomas (181-92 entering Friday) and Hopkins' Bob Babb (219-52-1 entering Friday). Something has to give in this one, as the Jays lead the Conference with a .391 team batting average, while the Bears top the loop in team ERA (3.26).

Washington at Gettysburg (Men's Lacrosse)
It's the game that is circled on the calendar of every Centennial men's lacrosse fan at the start of the year. The #15 Shoremen (3-1, 8-2) visit the #9 Bullets (2-1, 6-3) in a matchup between the two teams that have met for every Conference title since 2002. Gettysburg has won four straight contests, including an 11-10 victory at Salisbury that snapped the top-ranked Gulls' 87-game regular-season winning streak. Washington had its five-game win streak snapped by Haverford and looks to break a nine-game losing skein to the Bullets. The Shoremen have not won at Shirk Field since 2003 (9-8).

Franklin & Marshall at Dickinson (Women's Lacrosse)
The Diplomats (4-0, 9-1) and the Red Devils (3-1, 7-3) renew acquaintances for the 33rd time in a series that began in 1976. F&M holds a 31-1 series advantage with the only Dickinson triumph coming in Carlisle in that 1976 opening game (10-5). The Devils only lost by two goals last season in Lancaster (12-10). The game also pits a pair of F&M graduates on the sidelines - Diplomat coach Lauren Paul '03 and Red Devil mentor Kasey Dougherty '99.