Maryland
Florida State
Maryland Baseball Drops 4-0 Decision To No. 3 Florida State
5/10/2002 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2002
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Seminoles left-hander Matt Lynch tossed a complete-game five-hit shutout as No. 3 Florida State defeated Maryland, 4-0, in game one of the three-game weekend series at Dick Howser Stadium. In holding the Maryland offense to five hits, Lynch out-dueled the Terrapin combination of junior Jared Stuart (Corning, N.Y.) and freshman Josh Andrews (Monrovia, Md.), which held the potent Seminole offense to just six hits and three earned runs.
The Terps' best scoring chance came in the first inning. Junior left fielder Daryl Whitmer (Waldorf, Md.) led off the game with an infield single and advanced to second on junior right fielder Matt Swope's foul out down the left field line. However, Lynch struck out two of the next three Terp batters to escape the jam.
The Terps also had a runner in scoring position in the third inning when junior shortstop John McCurdy (Crofton, Md.) singled with two outs and then stole second base despite a pitch out. But Lynch fanned freshman first baseman Jason Maxey (Columbia, Md.) to get out of the inning.
Stuart matched scoreless frames with Lynch through the first three innings. The right-hander got out of a first-inning jam by striking out Nick Rogers with the bases loaded, and then retired the side in order in the second and third innings. He then set down nine straight Seminoles before Nick Rogers reached on an error, stole second and scored on Bryan Zech's two-out, go-ahead RBI single in the fourth inning. Stuart walked the next two batters before striking out Florida State's Stephen Drew with the bases loaded.
Nick Rogers gave the Seminoles a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth with a two-out RBI single that dropped in front of center fielder Justin Maxwell (Olney, Md.). Stuart escaped further trouble by striking out Zech with two on for the final out.
After a lead-off walk followed by a double to begin the sixth inning, Stuart was relieved by freshman Josh Andrews (Monrovia, Md.). Andrews retired Drew on a grounder to short before walking Tony McQuade to load the bases with one out. The Seminoles then scored two runs without the benefit of a hit, as Ryan Barthelemy hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring home the Seminoles' third run before Richie Smith scored the fourth run when he came from third when McQuade was caught stealing.
Meanwhile, had Lynch allowed baserunners in four of the first five innings, but he struck out six Terp batters over that time to escape trouble. After a one-out bunt single by Maxwell in the fifth, he set down 12 straight Maryland batters before Maxey hit a double high off the right-center field fence with one out in the ninth. However, sophomore third baseman Anthony Buffone (Manalapan, N.J.) hit a low liner to FSU second baseman Bryan Zech, who snagged the ball in the air and then tagged second for the game's final out.
For the Terps, Whitmer, McCurdy, Maxey, Maxwell and junior second baseman Kyle George (Bel Air, Md.) each recorded one hit apiece. Maxey's ninth-inning double extended his career-best hitting streak to 11 games, but he failed to homer for the first time in five games.
With his third-inning single, McCurdy moved to within one hit of Derek Hacopian's single-season school record of 95 hits. McCurdy's stolen base was his team-best 20th of the season, tying him for seventh on the Terps' single-season steals list.
Stuart was the hard-luck loser, as he fell to 5-3 on the season by allowing five hits and three earned runs in five-plus innings. Andrews pitched 3.0 scoreless innings and has now allowed only one run in his last 12.1 innings of work spanning five appearances. For the Seminoles, Lynch improved to 11-1 on the season as the Terps were held without a run for only the third time this season.
The two teams return to action Saturday night for game two of the series. First pitch is set for 7 p.m., as freshman right-hander Chris Clem (Berwyn, Pa.) takes the mound for the Terps against Florida State's Mark LaMacchia.
