April 15, 2003

Box Score

State College, Pa. - Junior Anthony Buffone (Manalapan, N.J.) is heating up, which is good news for the Maryland Terrapins (12-21, 0-11 ACC), who snapped a four game slide with a 3-2 road victory over Penn State (10-17, 5-7 Big Ten).

The junior utility player went 3-for-4, his second three-hit game in the Terps' past three games, scoring the game-tying run and collecting the game-winning RBI. He is hitting 9-for-16 (.563) over the past four games.

Buffone's effort ensured senior Todd Ainsworth's first victory of the season. Ainsworth, who came into the game with a 10.80 earned run average despite dueling with Wake Forest's Kyle Sleeth earlier in the season, limited the Nittany Lions to eight hits and two runs in 7.1 innings.

Ainsworth (Hershey, Pa.) pitched well out of jams, stranding runners on second or third in six different innings, including a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first in which Penn State came away with only one run on a double play.

Senior Matt Basinger (Connellsville, Pa.) recorded his second save of the season in the 72nd appearance of his career, placing him in a three-way tie for second all-time in Terps history. Charles Devereux (1989-1992) is first with 89.

Maryland got on the board in the first inning after freshman Mike Costantino (Somerset, Mass.) reached on an infield single and advanced to third on Buffone's single to right field. Costantino scored on an RBI groundout by sophomore Justin Maxwell (Olney, Md.).

The Nittany Lions evened the score in the second after loading the bases with no outs. Junior Matt Harter singled to left field and advanced to second on a fielding error by leftfielder Brian Jarosinski (Olney, Md.). Lance Thompson walked and Wes Reohr had a bunt single to load the bases. Harter scored when senior Mike DeRenzo grounded into a double play.

The Terrapins regained the lead in the sixth on three straight singles to start the inning. Buffone led off with a single, Maxwell moved him over to second with a bunt single and Buffone scored on an RBI single by sophomore Bobby Ryan (Damascus, Md.).

After Buffone's RBI single in the seventh, the Nittany Lions inched closer in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by Derrick Barr, who was 2-for-5, that scored Mike Milliron. Costantino and senior Kyle George (Bel Air, Md.) each collected two hits for the Terps.

The Terps will play at home on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. against Towson. Maryland won the first matchup between the two teams by a score of 7-5.