MARYLAND BASEBALL THE NO. 10 SEED FOR THE 2005 ACC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
After a two-week layoff from conference play, Terp baseball travels to the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville in Jacksonville, Fla. for the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball Tournament. Maryland, as well as Duke, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, will play two rounds of single elimination baseball on Tuesday, May 24, with the winner playing its way into the first round of the tournament.
TERPS TAKE ON VIRGINIA TECH TO OPEN TOURNAMENT PLAY
Wake Forest and Duke will play the first game of the 2005 ACC Tournament at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, and Maryland and Virginia Tech will follow in Game 2 at 3 p.m. Maryland took two of three games from the Hokies earlier this season and was a combined 4-5 against the three other teams in the play-in situation.
Maryland got contributions across the board in taking two of three games from Virginia Tech to open the 2005 conference season. The offense had 36 hits and scored 24 runs. The pitching gave up six runs in the first two games, both wins, and the defense put together a string of 16 errorless innings between the first and second games.
Five different Terps scored runs in the series opener, as Maryland scored two runs in the eighth inning to break a late 4-4 tie. Dan Melvin hit a three-run double in the third to help the Terps get off to a 4-0 lead, but Virginia Tech fought back to tie the game with runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Melvin scored the eventual game-winner on a wild pitch in the eighth, and Jason Von Behren tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single.
Ben Pfinsgraff made his second straight quality start in Game Two of the series, as the Terps again rallied late for a 6-2 win. Pfinsgraff breezed through five scoreless innings, before giving up two runs in the sixth and leaving with a no-decision. Jordan Wilson was 2-for-4 with two runs, with each of his hits starting Maryland scoring innings. Chris Bowen threw three scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win, his first of the season.
With the wind blowing out in the third and final game, the teams combined for 36 hits and 25 runs as Tech out-slugged Maryland, 13-12. Six home runs were hit in the game, equaling the number of homers hit in all of Maryland's first nine games combined. Will Frazier hit one of those, his second in two games, and drove in a career-high tying five RBI. Truan Mehl went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate and made an impressive diving catch on a sinking line drive early in the game.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS - TUESDAY, MAY 24
Game 1: No. 8 Wake Forest vs. No. 11 Duke - 11:00 a.m. Game 2: No. 9 Virginia Tech vs. No. 10 Maryland - 3:00 p.m. Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 - 8:00 p.m.
**Winner of Game 3 will play No. 1 seed Georgia Tech at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
CURRENT STATS AND TRENDS
Pitching Josh Andrews has a 2.00 ERA in three starts in 2005 ... Andrews has appeared in 14 games this season and 65 in his career, tying him for seventh on Maryland's all-time appearances list ... Casey Baron is 2-0 with an 0.00 ERA in his last three appearances (six innings) ... Baron, last season's team leader in walks per nine innings (1.27), has a 7:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio over that span ... Brett Cecil has yet to allow a home run in 40.1 innings this season ... Cecil has given up given up just two extra-base hits and four runs in his last 17.1 innings and has a 1.80 ERA in the 14 appearances in which he walks less than two batters ... Chris Clem has gone at least 6.0 innings in 10 of his last 11 starts and has walked two batters or less in 10 of his 12 starts on the season ... Clem is now just 3.0 innings shy of school record holder John Rayne (1989-92, 294.0) ... With a team-high 26 appearances this season, Justin Hulse not only tied for sixth in the ACC, but is now tied for seventh on Maryland's single season appearances list ... last season, Hulse climbed to the top of that list with a school-record 28 appearances ... Brett Jones has pitched five straight scoreless innings and his holding opposing hitters to just a .188 average this season ... senior Sean Kane has given up two earned runs in his last eight innings ... Kane retired 10 straight batters between a two-inning appearance at Miami (4/30) and a season-high five-inning appearance against Towson (5/4) ... Michael Meagher has allowed zero earned runs in 12 of his 13 appearances this season ... Seth Overbey has given up one extra-base hit in his last 11.2 innings, after allowing 10 in his first 11.1 innings this season ... Overbey has given up just three earned runs and has struck out 12 batters in his last nine appearances (2.25 ERA in 12.0 innings) ... Ben Pfinsgraff leads the team with six quality starts this season ... seven of his 10 starts have been decided by two runs or less, and he has walked more than one batter in just two of his starts ... Mike Sufczynski has given up two earned runs or less in eight of his nine starts this season ... Brett Tidball leads the team with an average of 1.38 walks per nine innings and is second on the team with a .176 opponent batting average.
Offense
Redshirt freshman Taylor Baum got his first career hit at Miami (4/30) and followed it up with his first career home run in a game against Towson earlier in the month ... Chad Durakis leads the team with 10 hit-by-pitches and a 76.9% success rate scoring runners from third base with less than two outs (10 RBI in 13 opportunities) ... Will Frazier tied a school record with his 59th career double in the team's final conference series against Florida State (5/6-5/8) ... Frazier is among the top five on seven career batting lists with: 784 at-bats (3rd), 147 runs (5th), 236 hits (3rd), 59 doubles (t-1st), 34 home runs (2nd), 93 extra-base hits (1st), 140 RBI (3rd) and 393 total bases (1st) ... Matt Maropis has a career-high 18 stolen bases this season and now has 34 in his career, placing him seventh on Maryland's career steals list ... Maropis is hitting .339 with 10 stolen bases and 19 runs scored in his last 15 games ... Truan Mehl currently ranks 10th in the conference in hits (80, 1.48/g) and eighth in doubles (19, 0.35/g) ... Mehl's 80 hits place him ninth on Maryland's single season hits list and just four hits shy of the third-most hits in a season in school history ... Dan Melvin missed the last two weeks of the regular season with a foot injury, but should be healthy for the beginning of the tournament ... freshman Joe Palumbo averages the second-most walks per game (0.47/g) on the team and has a total of 17 for the season ... Maryland has found success when Palumbo is reaching base, as the team is 10-4 when he scores a run ... Bobby Ryan leads the team with a 0.56 walks per game average ... Ryan has five runs, five hits and five walks in his last seven games and has reached base in nine of his last 10 ... Elliot Singletary leads the ACC and is second in the nation in doubles per game (0.51/g) ... Singletary's season doubles total of 25 places him second on Maryland's single season list, while his 32 extra-base hits place him in a tie for seventh place ... Jason Von Behren has hits in four straight games, raising his batting average 30 points over that span (.207 to .237) ... Maryland is 13-4 when Jordan Wilson drives in a run and just 8-23 when he does not collect an RBI.
A TALE OF TWO HALVES
After getting off to a tough start over the first two months of the season, junior Matt Maropis has since been one of the team's most exciting players. Through the end of March, Maropis was hitting just .197 (13-for-66) with two extra-base hits, three RBI and four stolen bases in eight attempts. Over the last two months of the season, Maropis has turned it on with a .309 average (30-for-97), 13 extra-base hits, 16 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 15 attempts.
Maropis, a .353 hitter in 2004, has raised his season average to .264 with a solid second half and has climbed into seventh place on the conference's stolen base list (18, 0.38/game). The junior infielder has set a new career-high with those 18 steals and now has 34 in his career - the eighth-most in school history.
Not only has Maropis' numbers taken a turn upward, but he has also been a valuable player in helping with the team's depth. He began the year as the team's second starting second baseman, but in the second half of the season, he has seen time at first, second and third base, as well as in right field and at designated hitter. Most of his time recently has been at third base, where he's hitting .442 and slugging .605 this season.
TERPS GETTING BACK TO FULL STRENGTH
A two-week break after the team's season finale against Longwood (5/11) has been a welcome sight for several injured Terrapins. Infielder Dan Melvin and starting pitcher Ben Pfinsgraff should be primary beneficiaries of the extra rest, having missed time down the stretch with respective foot and shoulder injuries.
Pfinsgraff has been one of the conference's best pitchers this season, but a shoulder injury has caused him to miss three of his last four starts. Pfinsgraff has a 4-3 record and a team-high 45 strikeouts in 61.1 innings this season and currently ranks 10th in the ACC with a 2.93 earned run average.
Melvin has missed the last couple of weeks with a foot injury, but should be ready to open the conference tournament. He has hit .297 with 15 doubles, 24 runs scored and a team-high seven sacrifice bunts before hurting his left foot in the Wake Forest series (4/24).
BARON DOWN ON OPPOSING HITTERS
Sophomore left-hander Casey Baron seems to be fully recovered after an elbow injury sidelined him for the better part of a month earlier this season. His velocity is back, and he's rediscovering the control that led to a team-best 1.27 walks per nine innings a year ago. Baron typically works in the upper 80s with a live fastball and complements his fastball with an array of off-speed pitches.
In his last four appearances, Baron has allowed just four hits and a walk, while striking out seven opposing hitters. He has earned a decision in three of those four appearances (2-1) and is now 3-1 with a 3.95 ERA for the season.
CLEM THE PORTRAIT OF CONSISTENCY AND DURABILITY
Senior starter Chris Clem has made 47 starts in his Maryland career, including a team-high 12 in 2005, and has pitched the second-most innings in school history (291.0). Clem has pitched 78.2 innings this season, going over the 70 innings pitched mark for the third consecutive season. He enters the 2005 ACC Tournament just three innings shy of tying school record holder John Rayne (294.0 innings).
In his four seasons at Maryland, Clem has averaged over 72 innings, 52 strikeouts and a 5.91 average. He has compiled just a 12-25 record over that time, a mark that is not indicative of how good he has been for the Terps.
Major League scouts have taken notice to Clem's talent, durability and consistency, and the senior will likely be selected in the 2005 amateur draft. Clem features a fastball that can touch the low 90's, a two-seam fastball with a lot of movement and quality off-speed pitches.
