Some pregame notes from Bowie before the Baysox home opener tonight

BOWIE, Md. - The Double-A Bowie Baysox, after completing a 3-4 road trip to Harrisburg and Richmond with back-to-back wins the past two days, open their home season here tonight at 7:05 facing Akron and Kevin Gausman will start on the mound. This will be Gausman's first time pitching at Prince George's Stadium. He made a start for Bowie on the road in the playoffs last September pitching three scoreless with five strikeouts and made his 2013 season debut last Saturday at Harrisburg. Over four innings, he gave up eight hits and six runs (four earned) with no walks and eight strikeouts. He threw 84 pitches, 65 for strikes. Yes, it is the ultimate small sample size of one game, but in that outing Gausman gave up three hits over 11 at-bats against lefty batters and right-handed batters went 5-for-11 against him with a double and homer. Here is tonight's Baysox lineup: CF - Xavier Avery LF - Kyle Hudson 2B - Ty Kelly DH - Lew Ford 3B - Zelous Wheeler RF - Buck Britton 1B - Aaron Baker C - Brian Ward SS - Garabez Rosa While Bowie ranks 10th out of 12 Eastern League teams at this early stage with a 5.40 team ERA, the Baysox lead the Eastern League batting .298 and in runs with 48, while placing second with an OBP of .366. Several players are off to hot starts: * Avery is batting .353 with seven runs and four doubles. * Ford is hitting .320 with four doubles and a homer. * Kelly is batting .391 with six walks and a .516 OBP. * Ward is batting .385 with eight RBIs in just three games. * Wheeler is batting .375 with four doubles and five RBIs. Avery and Wheeler are tied for the league lead in hits with 12. Caleb Joseph leads the league with five doubles and his seven RBIs is two of the lead. Bowie has won its last four home openers since a loss in 2008. The Baysox trailed Richmond 6-0 last night but rallied for an 8-7 win. The Baysox had 30 come-from-behind wins on their way to the playoffs last season and this was their first of 2013. I hope to check in with manager Gary Kendall later after batting practice so check back this afternoon for more notes from Bowie and updates tonight during the game with Gausman on the mound.