The University of Maryland athletics department will honor legendary basketball coach Charles "Lefty" Driesell with a bronze bas-relief dedication ceremony on Tuesday, April 16 at Comcast Center. The reception will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the program starting at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Driesell became Maryland's head coach in 1969, coached the Terrapins for 17 seasons and won 348 games. Prior to his arrival, the Terrapins had won only one Atlantic Coast Conference title and made just one NCAA Tournament appearance. Under Driesell's leadership, the Terrapins won another ACC title and made the NCAA Tournament eight times, including two Elite 8 appearances.

Driesell, who coached at Davidson prior to coming to Maryland and went on to stints at James Madison and Georgia State, compiled a 786-394 record in his 40-plus years as a head coach. He was the originator of "Midnight Madness" to open practice at the beginning of the season in 1971. He is a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and the University of Maryland Athletics Hall of Fame.

The Washington Nationals got their second series sweep of the young 2013 season, beating the visiting Chicago White Sox 7-4 last night, thanks to the hot bats at the top of the lineup. The win improves Washington's record to 7-2 overall and 6-0 at home. They trail the 8-1 Atlanta Braves, winners of 6 in a row, by one game. Dan Haren 1-1 got the win, giving up 10 hits and three runs and striking out five over five innings. Closer Rafael Soriano pitched the 9th for his 5th save in 6 opportunities. 

But last night was mostly about the big bats at the top of the lineup for the Nationals. Denard Span, Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman went a combined 7-13 with 6 runs, 4 RBI and 5 walks drawn. Behind them, Adam LaRoche and Ian Desmond each drove in a run. 

Span continued to show why the Nats traded for him, going 2-4 with a walk and 2 runs scored, raising his batting average to .323. Werth raised his average to .297 with two hits and two runs. Bryce Harper continued his red-hot start to the season, going 2-3, driving in two runs, scoring two runs and drawing two walks, one of them intentional.

That intentional walk in the third inning was critical last night, as Chisox pitcher Dylan Axelrod pitched around Harper in favor of facing Ryan Zimmerman, who hasn't gotten off to nearly as hot a start as Harper. It didn't work, though, as Zimmerman promptly slapped a double into right field that scored two runs. "You're rolling the dice either way," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura after the game. "You just take your chance."

Washington Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth (28) and left fielder Bryce Harper (34) are congratulated by first baseman Adam LaRoche (25) after scoring during the fourth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Nationals Park.

Harper hit a run-scoring single of his own in the 8th, giving him at least two hits in 7 of Washington's 8 games this season. He's now hitting .417 with four homers, eight RBI and a .778 slugging percentage.

Haren recovered a bit from his disastrous first outing of the season in Cincinnati, but he did still give up 10 hits in only 5 innings. However, Haren helped himself in the 4th with the score tied at three. Haren doubled off Axelrod and later scored on a wild pitch. 

Zimmerman's double in the fourth proved to be Axelrod's 103rd and final pitch of the evening, with the Nats up 6-3. Ryan Mattheus, Tyler Clippard and Rafael Soriano pitched the rest of the way to seal the victory, with only Mattheus yielding a run. The save was Soriano's third in the last three games -- every game in this series. 

Still too early to provide the weekly minor league system leaderboard, but we can report on a few players that are producing in the system, early in the season. 

Syracuse Chiefs (AAA)

Jeff Kobernus is probably the hottest batter in the system, early in the season.  Kobernus was claimed by Detroit in the Rul V Draft, but was returned to Washington after he failed to crack the opening day roster.  Good for the Nats.  In 6 games at AAA, Kobernus is an impressive 12 for 22 at the plate for a .545 batting average.  He has a double, triple, and a home run.  He has scored 8 runs and has drive in 6.  Kobernus has put up an early .818 slugging percentage and a .593 on base percentage.  Keep on eye on Kobernus.  This is a kid I hated to see leave via Rule V and was thrilled to see returned to the system.  He has tremendous speed and could get a chance in Washington if an injury occurs. 

Michah Owings, the major league starting pither turned first baseman, is batting .421 in 6 games, off to a 8 for 189 start.  He has one home run and has crossed the plate 4 times and driven in 6 runs.  Eury Perez is on an absolute tear.  He is a wildy hot outfield prospect the Nats absolutely love and could see time in Washington this season.  The 23 year-old Dominican prospect has a 22 game hitting streak intact dating back to last season.  This year, Perez is batting .379 with 11 hits in 29 at bats.  He has a double, triple, and has scored 6 runs.  Corey Brown is off to a good start, collecting 2 doubles and 2 homer sin his first 6 games.  He is batting .321.

Harrisburg Senators (AA)

Highly touted and higly watch prospect Steve Souza is batting .364 in his first 7 games, collecting 8 hits in 22 at bats.  He has a double, home run, and 6 runs scored.  He has a .545 slugging percentage and a .533 on base percentage.  The Nationals like what they saw in Souza last season where he batted a combined .297 between Hagerstown and Potomac and smacked 23 homes runs and drove in 85 runs.  Justin Bloxom, who has steadily risen in the Nats system, is batting .300 in his first 8 games.  Brian Goodwin is batting .212 with 7 hits in 33 plate appearances in his ifrst 8 games.  Anthony Rendon is batting .241 with 6 runs and 3 RBI. 

Blake Trenien, who was acquired via the Seattle trade for Mike Morse, is off to a rocky start.  Trenien has started two games and has allowed 13 runs and 176 hits in 7.2 innings for an ERA of 15.26.  Another prosdpect acquired was Ian Krol.  Krol has appeared in 3 games out of the Senators bullpen and has a 1.93 ERA, allowing 1 run o0ver 4.2 innimngs.  Aaron Barrett has appeare din 3 games and has allowed 3 runs over 3.1 innings. 

Potomac Nationals (A)

Billy Burns, a prospect to keep an eye on with tremendous speed, is batting .550 in his first 5 games.  He is 11 for 20 at the plate with a double and a triple.  He has a .700 slugging percentage and a .610 on base percentage.  Burns is a high batting average hitter.  Last season he batted .322 in 1134 games at Hagerstown.  Randolph Oduber is batting .450 with 9 hits in 209 at bats in his first 5 games.  Oduber has 4 runs scored and drive in 6 runs.  Jason Martinson is off to a great start in Potomac.  In 6 games, he has collected 8 hits, of which 6 were for extra bases, with 2 doubles, a triple, and 3 home runs.    Martinson has 7 runs scored and 8 RBI in just 6 games.  He has a slugging percentage of 1.050.   Robbie Ray has made 2 starts and is 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA.  He has allowed 3 runs over 11 innings.  He has yielded 2 walks compared to 12 strikeouts. 

Hagerstown Suns (A)

Mike McQuillan is off to a decent start, collecting 8 hist in 26 trips for a .308 batting average.  He has a home run, has scored 4 runs and drive in 5.  Dixon Anderson has made 2 starts and is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA.  In 11 innings, he has allowed 1 walk with 9 strikeouts.  Blake Schwartz is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 2 starts.  In 8 innings, he has fanned 11 and has not allowed a walk.  Tony Renda is off to a cold start, collecting just 6 hits in 32 at at bats for a .188 batting average. 

The Washington Capitals are the hottest team in the NHL winning their 6th consecutive game tonight, a 3-1 win over division rival Carolina Hurricanes.  The Caps were led by goaltender Braden Holtby whp provided sparkling p,at between the pipes, earning several "Holtby" chants from the Verizon Center crowd. Holtby was easily the top player on the ice for the Caps tonight stopping a whopping 43 saves, which was a career high in the regular season for Holtby. 

Carolina took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission on a Jeff Skinner power play goal.  The Caps responded in the second period, beginning with a Troy Brouwer power play goal.  Brouwer's tally was his 14th of the season and was assisted by Mike Ribeiro and Nicklas Backstrom.  Less than three minutes later Mike Green skated past a tired Jeff Skinner, and blew a slap shot past Carolia goalie Justin Peters to give the Caps the 2-1 lead.  Brouwer iced the game on a nifty empty netter back hander to give the Caps the 3-1 lead.  It was Brouwer's 15th of the season.

With the win, the Caps continue to maintain their two point lead in the Southeast Division.  They improve overall to 22-17-2.  Their win was their sixth straight and have now won 10 of their last 13 games.  The Caps also remain a perfect 6-0 in April.  

The Washington Nationals will seek their second series sweep of the young season tonight against the Chicago White Sox.  The Nats defeated the White Sox 5-2 behind a strong starts from Jordan Zimmermann (2-0).  Zimmermann tossed 7 innings and permitted 7 hits and 2 runs while fanning 4.  It was a deep, quality start the Nats needed.   Drew Storen and Rafael Soriano combined for two innings of shutout relief, as Soriano picked up his 4th save of the season. 

The Nats offense jumped on White Sox pitcher Gavin Floyd for 9 hits and 5 runs over 5 innings.  Washington tied the game at 1-1 in the fourth inning on a solo homer by Bryce Harper, his 4th of the season.  Later in that same inning, Danny Espinosa singled in Ian Desmond to give the Nats the 2-1 lead, a lead they would not relinquish. 

Ryan Zimmerman padded the lead to 3-1 one inning later as Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper reached base.  Zimmerman hammered a shallow single past the first baseman that led to Werth scoring.  Espinosa doubled in the sixth inning to score Desmond and Denard Span singled later to score Espinosa to complete the 5 run win for the Nats. 

Desmond finished the game with a 3 for 4 night with 2 runs scored while Danny Espinosa went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. 

The win improved the Nats to 6-2 on the season and a perfect 5-0 at Nationals Park.  Dan Haren, after a rough season and Nats debut, will tangle with Dylan Axelrod in the series finale tonight at Nationals Park. 

Streaky Nats (4 or more games):

*  Ian Desmond has hit safely in five straight games.  Over the last two games, he is 5 for 8 with 3 runs and 3 doubles.

*  Jayson Werth has hit safely in four consecutive games.  Two of those games were multi-hit games. 

*  Bryce Harper has hit safely in four straight games.  Three of those four games Harper had two hits in each game.  Harper is batting an impressive .394 to start the season. 

Adam LaRoche's bat finally woke up last night and he led a parade of big hitters who battered the visiting Chicago White Sox pitchers, leading the home team to an 8-7 win last night at a warm and steamy Nationals Park. 

"You get into the second week of the season," LaRoche said, "that's never a good feeling to look up there and not have a hit."

Washington's first baseman fixed that feeling last night, crushing two home runs to provide the winning margin. LaRoche scored two runs and drove in 3 RBI. He was 0-15 coming into the game last night. As a team, the Nats now have 10 homers in the last 3 games. 

RF Jayson Werth and SS Ian Desmond also hit home runs and the top six batters in the lineup went 10-21 with 7 runs scored, 8 RBI and two walks. Said Werth after the game: "We've got a really balanced lineup. That's something that we have that most teams don't. It's tough on matchups. It's tough on pitchers, really," Werth said. "There's not really an easy spot in our lineup."

Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche (25) hits a two-run home run in the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Nationals Park.

Werth and LaRoche both smacked 2-run homers in the 6th to chase Chisox starter Jake Peavey and open a 6-2 lead. Werth cracked an RBI single in the 7th, driving in Steve Lombardozzi, and LaRoche later added a solo shot in the 8th, adding an insurance run the Nationals would later need. 

That's because the team made plenty of mistakes on the basepaths and the pitching mound. Starter Gio Gonzalez struggled through five innings, balking in a run in a 33-pitch first inning, but otherwise wriggling out of jams. Gio left after the fifth inning, having given up only one earned run, but tossing 99 pitches to get there. 

LF Bryce Harper and Gonzalez both got thrown out by White Sox RF Alex Rios trying to stretch singles into doubles. [Incidentally, Gonzo is now hitting .667. How long before Manager Davey Johnson starts using him as a pinch hitter?]

Even bigger problems occurred with the bullpen, though, as Nats relievers struggled to get the team out of the game with the win the offense earned. Craig Stammen [2-0] got the win despite giving up a run and three hits in the 6th inning. Tyler Clipperd come on for the seventh and promptly gave up 2 hits and three runs, with one of those hits going  yard -- a two-out, three-run shot by DH Paul Konerko. 

Drew Storen pitched the 8th and turned out to be the only Nats reliever in the game who didn't embarrass himself. Storen threw ten pitches, 7 for strikes, struck out 2 and retired the side in order. 

However, Rafael Soriano got rocked again in the 9th inning, raising his ERA to 9.00. With one on and two outs and the Nats clinging to a precarious 3-run lead, Soriano gave up a 2-run homer to Rios, making the game an 8-7 nailbiter. Soriano managed to get Konerko to fly out to center, ending the game and giving Soriano his third save in four opportunities. Didn't feel like he earned this one, though. 

The Washington Capitals continue playing impressive hockey, earning their fifth consecutive win, defeating the Montreal Canadians 3-2 in Montreal for a huge road win.  The Caps have now won 9 of their last 11 and maintain their 2 point lead in the Southeast Division.

Jack Hillen scored a goal and had an assist to help lead the Caps to the win.  It was Hillen's first goal in 44 games, dating back to last season.  His goal came in the third period to give the Caps a 3-1 lead.  Hillen was thought to have the Caps second goal of the game.   Hillen shot the puck that that was believed to be his tally,  but later credited to Eric Fehr on the deflection, on a very weird goal that went off a top shouler pad of Montreal net minder Carey Price before falling into the net, apparently tapped by Fehr.  Fehr's goal was assisted by Hillen and Steve Oleksy.  It was Fehr's 7th of the season. 

Alexander Ovechkin continued his red hot tear scoring in the first period to knot the game up at 1-1.  It was Ovi's 26th marker of the season, moving him into the NHL lead in goals scored.  Ovechkin's league leading 26th goal  was assisted by Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson.  

Lars Ellers pulled the Habs to within 1 late in the third period, but the Caps were able to hold off the home ice Habs.  Michal Neuvirth, making his second consecutive start, picks up has second consecutive win.  Neuvirth stopped 25 of 27 shots including some beauties in the last 30 seconds of the game.  

Caps improve to 21-17-2. 

Multi-Point Scorers:

Nicklas Backstrom, 2 assists

Jack Hillen, 1 goal, 1 assist

Alexander Ovechkin is having far batter success under new bench boss Adam Oates than he had under former coach Dale Hunter.  Particuarly in the last 14 games, as the Capitals have appeared to finally grasp Oates' new system, Ovi is thriving.  So what is the difference?  What makes Ovechkin more effective under Oates.  This via Steve Whyno. 

"It''s always been fun, but I don't want to talk about last year.  This year is much different.  It's trust.  That's what I don't have last year.  ALEXANDER OVECHKIN

Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III not only sold more jerseys than any other rookie in NFL history, he sold more jersey's in the 2012 fiscal year than any NFL player in in history. The numbers are from the NFL and tracks all jersey sales from April 1, 2012 to March 1, 2012. 

Peyton Manning, playing with a new jersey for the Broncos, the now-retired Ray Lewis of the Super Bowl champ Baltimore Ravens, Colin Kaepernick of the 49ers and Tom Brady of the Patriots round out the top five. Here is the top ten. 

Psst. Wanna buy a jersey?

Syracuse Chiefs improved to 4-1 after an 8-1 win last night.  Eury Perez went 2 for 6 and extended his hitting streak to 22 straight games, going back to last season.  Jeff Kobernus continues to swing a nastybat, going 2 for 5 with a double, triple, and 2 runs scored.  He has started his season off batting .579.  Will Rhymes drove in 2 runs and went 2 for 4 while Zach Walter smacked his 4th home run of this short season.  Daniel Rosenbaum, who the Nats gained back after losing him to Rule V Draft, picked up the win in his debut, throwing 5 scoreless innings. 

Harrisburg Senators lost 9-2 last night.  Brian Goodwin went 2 for 5 with a triple and a run scored.  Josh Johnson was 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI.  Nathan Karns was hammered in his season debut, allowing 7 hits and 7 runs and 3 walks over 3.2 innings. 

Potomac Nationals lost 7-6.  Bily Burns was 2 for 4 with a double, a run scored and 2 RBI.  He is batting .500.  Caleb Ramsey hit his first home run of the season.  Kylin Turnbull was hammered in his AA debut, allowing 9 hits and 7 runs over 4.1 innings.  Ben Hawkins and Richie Mirkowski combined for 4.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Hagerstown Suns won 7-6.  Tony Renda was 2 for 5 with an RBI.  JR Higley, Craig Manuel, and Stephen Perez each collected two hits apiece.  Pedro Encarnacion threw 5.1 innings and allowed 3 hits and a run in his season debut.  Robert Benincasa picked up the save.