College Park, MD (U-WIRE) -- The Terrapin baseball team will get a glimpse of what life is like in professional baseball tonight when they play the AA-Eastern League Bowie Baysox tonight in an exhibition game.

While the Terps are in the middle of their season, the Baysox, who will host the game at Prince George's Stadium, have yet to begin theirs. The Baysox are the Class AA minor league affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.

Many of the Terp players have aspirations of playing professional baseball.

"It gives them a realistic expectation," head coach Terry Rupp said. "It gives them a taste of what it's like at that level."

During the game, the Terps will use wooden bats. Normally, the team uses aluminum, but after college, players must use wooden bats. Rupp said the team is somewhat experienced with using wooden bats because of fall league regulations.

The Terps are coming off a series loss at No. 1-ranked Georgia Tech but they did manage to win one of the three games. It was the first time since May 3, 2003, the Terps have defeated a top-five opponent.

"Beating the number one team in the nation was a big positive for our team," Rupp said.

The Terps will host Maryland-Baltimore County at Shipley Field tomorrow.

(C) 2004 The Diamondback via U-WIRE