April 13, 2003

Box Score

College Park, Md. - Steve Schmoll (Rockville, Md.) was dealt his first loss in over a month as the Terrapin bats failed to provide their ace with run support in a 4-0 loss to North Carolina (26-11, 7-5 ACC).

Coming off a week in which he threw two complete game shutouts and was named ACC pitcher of the week, Schmoll fared well in his first start against a conference opponent, allowing three earned runs in eight innings.

But Maryland (11-21, 0-11 ACC) struggled at the plate, scattering six hits, only one of which went for extra bases, and failing to hit in key situations. The Terps advanced a runner past second base just once in the entire game, and are batting .221 with runners in scoring position. Despite the offensive struggles, the shutout was just the Terps' second of the season.

Not surprisingly, Schmoll (3-4) receives the worst run support of any Maryland starter at just 3.5 runs per game.

The day was not a complete loss for Schmoll, who is racing up several Maryland career and single-season record charts. Though he struck out less than 10 for the first time this season as a starter, his five strikeouts are already the ninth-best season total in Terrapin history, with four weeks left in the season.

Schmoll is also one inning and two strikeouts away from passing Minnesota Twins ace Eric Milton (1994-1996) for fourth in career innings pitched and second in career strikeouts.

Gary Bakker (5-2) was the winner for the Tar Heels, a last-minute addition to the weekend rotation. Bakker coasted through 8.2 innings, striking out five and walking none. Whitley Benson came in to record the final out.

Senior shortstop Kyle George (Bel Air, Md.) had a solid day, making a tremendous diving catch and throw from his knees in the fourth inning and collecting two hits for the second straight game.

North Carolina had to manufacture runs off of Schmoll, scoring two runs in the fourth inning after reeling off four straight two-out hits and on an RBI-groundout in the seventh. Another run scored in the sixth on two fielding errors, and Schmoll limited North Carolina's first four hitters to 1-for-15.

Sammy Hewitt capped a tremendous weekend by going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Hewitt went 7-for-14 with eight runs batted in the three-game series.

Maryland will look for redemption as they hit the road on Tuesday to play Penn State (10-16, 5-7 Big Ten). The away game is the first in eight games for the Terps, who will return home on Wednesday against Towson, the first of four straight games at Shipley Field.