Maryland
No Carolina St
Terps Storm Back To Take Out NC State, 16-12
5/2/2002 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 2, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md.- Junior Daryl Whitmer (Waldorf, Md.) tied a career high with four hits and drove in a career-high five runs to help lead Maryland to a 16-12 victory over NC State Thursday night in ACC baseball action at Shipley Field. The win was a special one for the Terrapins as the team recorded its 30th win of the season and also clinched the first winning campaign for a Maryland team since 1991. The victory tonight is also the first time in 104 years of baseball at Maryland that a Terrapin team has reached the 30-win plateau as Maryland improved to 30-19 overall and 4-15 in the ACC. The Wolfpack dropped to 26-22 and 4-15 in the conference.
After Maryland took an early 1-0 lead after the first inning, NC State roared back with five runs in the second to take a 5-1 lead. Adam Hargrave got things started for the Pack with a RBI-triple. The Wolfpack used two more RBI-singles and scored a run on a Maryland error by Terrapin second baseman Joe Sargent (Chesapeake Beach, Md.) to account for the four runs in the frame.
The Terrapin bats came right back in the bottom of the second to score four runs and tie the contest at five. With the bases loaded and two outs, Whitmer lined a double to right center to score three to pull Maryland to within one at 5-4. Senior Matt Swope (New Carrollton, Md.) followed with a RBI-single to score Whitmer and deadlock the contest at five.
The Wolfpack kept the slugfest going with six runs in the top of the third to regain the lead, 11-5. Colt Morton led off the frame with a towering home run to deep left field to start the Wolfpack rally. David Hicks also went deep, as he connected on a two-run home run later in the inning for State.
After the top of the third, the Terrapins reeled off 10 unanswered runs and got a terrific performance out of freshman reliever Josh Andrews (Monrovia, Md.) to earn the historic victory.
In the third, junior Kyle George (Bel Air, Md.) walked with the bases loaded to cut the deficit to 11-6.
In the fourth inning, Swope walked and junior John McCurdy (Crofton, Md.) singled to put two runners on base for freshman Jason Maxey (Columbia, Md.). Maxey made the Wolfpack pay as he sent his 12th home run of the season over the fence down the right field line to bring Maryland to within two at 11-9.
The Terps scored five more times in the fifth to regain the lead for good. McCurdy got things rolling with a sacrifice fly before sophomore Anthony Buffone (Manalapan, N.J.) came through with the biggest hit of the night for the Terps. Buffone lined a 3-1 pitch to left field with the bases loaded to score three Terrapins and give Maryland a 13-11 advantage.
The Terrapins added a two-run home run by Whitmer in the sixth to stretch the lead to 15-11. The four-run cushion was more than enough for Andrews who retired 12 straight from the fourth inning through the seventh inning.
The freshman southpaw limited the Pack to just one run on three hits and struck out five in 6.1 innings of work to improve to 2-0 on the season. The 6.1 innings pitched and the five strikeouts were both new career highs for Andrews. The only mistake Andrews allowed on the night was a solo home run by Brian Wright to leadoff the eighth inning.
Maryland got the run back in the home half of the eighth when McCurdy singled to left field to score Whitmer and it closed out the high-scoring affair at 16-12.
Both McCurdy and Buffone each totaled three hits and three RBIs on the night for Maryland while NC State's David Hicks finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs.
The two teams will continue their three-game series Friday evening at 7 p.m.
