Maryland
Navy
Ryan's Clutch RBI Highlights Schmoll's Career Day
3/25/2003 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 25, 2003
College Park, Md. - Steve Schmoll (Rockville, Md.) was lights out tonight for 7.1 innings - and so was Shipley Field for 25 minutes.
The senior pitcher brought a no-hitter into the eighth inning, a stellar performance that went awry when all of the stadium lights at Shipley Field went black.
When the lights came back on nearly a half-an-hour later, Navy's bats lit up as well, collecting seven hits and moving ahead by a run in the top of the ninth with the aid of a two-run home run by Craig Candeto.
But catcher Bobby Ryan (Damascus, Md.), who was mired in a 1-21 slump and entered the in the ninth as a defensive replacement, played the hero for the Terps. His two-out, walk-off RBI single to right field to bring home Anthony Buffone (Manalapan, N.J.) sealed the Terps' third comeback victory of the season.
The Navy (5-11, 0-0 Patriot) comeback spoiled Schmoll's night, as the starter-turned-closer-turned-starter fanned a career-high 15 batters, the most for a Terp starter since Eric Milton struck out 15 versus Wake Forest in 1996.
The win also helped the Terps (6-15, 0-6 ACC) avoid tying another mid-90s record: 1995's nine consecutive losses. The victory snapped an eight-game losing streak.
Schmoll has now struck out an astounding 57 batters in 32.2 innings, while walking just eight. His strikeouts-per-nine innings of 15.7 leads the ACC by nearly five.
The Terps bats were mostly held in check by six Navy pitchers, but put up three key runs in the bottom of the fourth on a wild pitch and an RBI double by Justin Maxwell (Olney, Md.). Ryan's timely hitting saved the day for a team that left eight runners on base.
Sophomore reliever Chris Bowen (2-1) picked up the win.
The Navy comeback was the third ninth-inning rally by an opponent in three night games this season. The Terps brought a 4-3 lead into a March 14 contest against No. 14 Wake Forest, only to lose 5-4. Exactly one week earlier, Marist strung together seven runs in the top of the ninth to win 9-7.
Schmoll set additional career marks, moving into eighth place in career strikeouts (205) and tenth in career innings pitched (216.2). He has his sights set on Eric Milton's single-season strikeout record of 118.
The Terps will take the field again on Friday at 7 p.m. in Charlottesville, Va. for a three-game ACC series against Virginia. Friday's game can be heard online at wmucsports.com, while Saturday and Sunday's 1 p.m. games will be broadcast on 88.1 FM and wmucsports.com.
NOTES: Sophomore Will Frazier (Mitchellville, Md.) left the game in the bottom of the second after being hit on the head by a pitch from starter Andy Froistad.
