Maryland
Georgia Tech
Terps Swept by No. 2 Georgia Tech
3/23/2003 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 23, 2003
Atlanta, Ga. - Second-ranked Georgia Tech (20-2, 3-0 ACC) completed a three-game sweep of the Maryland Terrapins (5-15, 0-6 ACC) with a 20-6 victory on Sunday at Russ Chandler Stadium.
Freshman Mike Costantino (Somerset, Mass.) hit his first career home run in the loss, which was the eighth in a row for the Terps. The eight-game slide is the longest for the Terps under head coach Terry Rupp, and the longest since 1998.
The story of the series was Georgia Tech's consistency, scoring in 19 of 24 innings in three games and putting each game out of reach early. The Terp pitching was hit hard, giving up more than ten runs and more than ten hits in each game.
Senior Todd Ainsworth (Hershey, Pa.) took the loss, a little less than a week after going pitch-for-pitch with Wake Forest's star pitcher Kyle Sleeth. Ainsworth allowing eight earned runs in an inning-plus of work.
The bright spot for the weekend was the hitting of Costantino, who, along with fellow newcomer catcher Bobby Ryan (Damascus, Md.), has carried the team as the incumbents struggle to find a rhythm.
Costantino went 2-for-4 to increase his team-leading batting average to .355, and added a double, a home run and three RBI. He has hit safely in ten of the past 11 games.
Also adding solid weekends were Anthony Buffone (4-for-12, three RBI), Will Frazier (6-12, three doubles), and Matt Maropis, who had a two RBI-single in the second inning of Sunday's game.
The Yellow Jackets made use of the longball after scoring 25 runs in two games with the aid of just one home run. Clifton Remole, Matt Murton, Mike Nickeas and Steven Blackwood each went deep, taking advantage of a stiff breeze that carried many of the balls hit to the outfield.
Georgia Tech emptied its bench in the latter stages of the game, but the runs kept coming. Blackwood hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth, his second home run of the year, extending the lead to 14 runs. The margin of victory was the largest against the Terps since Wake Forest beat Maryland 19-0 on April 19, 2002.
The Terps will host Navy at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23 at Shipley Field.
