May 3, 2002
Box Score
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Jason Maxey (Columbia, Md.) drilled a three-run home run and John McCurdy (Crofton, Md.) added a solo blast to help guide Maryland to a 7-6 win over NC State Friday night in ACC baseball action at Shipley Field. The victory marked the first time this season that the Terrapins have won two consecutive games in the conference. Maryland will look for its first three-game sweep of an ACC opponent at Shipley Field tomorrow since April 29-May 1, 1994, when the Terrapins won three from Virginia.
The Wolfpack scored the game's first run in the first inning when Brian Wright hit a solo home run to center field to give the Pack a 1-0 advantage.
The Terps came right back via the long ball also as Maxey drilled his 13th home run of the season, a three-run shot, to center field to hand the Terrapins a 3-1 lead.
Maryland scored another run in the second to pull ahead 4-1. Matt Swope (New Carrollton, Md.) singled through the left side with two outs to score Justin Maxwell (Olney, Md.).
The Pack got another pair of runs in the third to make the score 4-3. David Hicks scored two with a two-out double to center to score Jeremy Dutton and Marc Maynor.
In the fourth, NC State tied the contest at four when Joe Gaetti led off the inning with a solo homer to left field.
The Terps quickly regained the lead with a single run in the home half of the fourth. Swope hit a towering fly ball to center and NC State's center fielder Joe Gaetti misplayed the ball and committed an error, which advanced Kyle George (Bel Air, Md.) to the plate and gave Maryland a 5-4 lead.
The Terps added single runs in the sixth on a RBI-groundout by Daryl Whitmer (Waldorf, Md.) and the solo home run by McCurdy in the seventh. The long ball for McCurdy was his team-leading 18th of the season and moved him into a tie for third-place on the single-season home run chart at Maryland.
The Wolpack made things interesting in the ninth as the Pack scored two runs. Dutton scored one run with a sacrifice fly and David Hicks scored a run on an infield single when the ball to a bad hop. With runners on first and second with one out, Maryland head coach Terry Rupp went to the bullpen and brought in Ken Beck (Laurel, Md.) for the save.
Beck promptly induced Mike Porchaska into the game ending, 1-6-3 double play to seal the Terrapin victory at 7-6. The save was Beck's sixth of the season and he is just one save away from tying the single-season save mark at Maryland.
Freshman starter Chris Clem (Berwyn, Pa.) earned his first career ACC victory after tossing 6.0 innings and allowing four runs on six hits with four strikeouts. With the win, Clem improved to 3-4 on the season. NC State starter Daniel Caldwell (6-7) lasted six innings and gave up six runs on eight hits with four strikeouts for the Pack.
The win improved the Terps to 31-19 overall and 5-15 in the ACC while the Wolfpack dropped to 26-23 and 4-16 in the conference. The Terrapins will go for the sweep tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Shipley Field.
