Maryland
West Virginia
West Virginia Gets Revenge On Terps, 21-8
4/22/2003 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 22, 2003
There have been two sides to the Maryland Terrapin baseball team this season, both of which were present at Shipley Field this season: The gritty, never-say-die squad that beat No. 23 Clemson twice on Saturday, and the team that followed those wins up with a 20-5 loss on Sunday.
The latter showed up Tuesday in Morgantown, WVa. in a rematch with the West Virginia Mountaineers. Terp pitching allowed 10 runs in the first three innings as the Moutaineers cruised to a 21-8 defeat.
The loss evened the season series 1-1, following a 4-0 victory on April 1 in which senior Steve Schmoll (Rockville, Md.) pitched a complete game shutout and struck out 15 batters.
Though Maryland was susceptible to the longball - giving up five home runs to four different West Virginia hitters - and walks - starting four of the first five innings with free passes - they were also plagued by downright bad luck.
The Mountaineers put up four runs in a third inning that featured a double play ball that took an unexpected 12-foot hop over second baseman Joe Sargent's head, followed by a bases-loaded ground ball to first baseman Anthony Buffone (Manalapan, N.J.) that made a sharp cut away from the junior and led to two more runs.
Redshirt senior Todd Ainsworth (Hershey, Pa.) was unable to follow up on a successful outing last week against Penn State, allowing six runs in just one inning of work.
Despite pitching woes, Maryland had several offensive highlights. Sophomore Justin Maxwell (Olney, Md.) crushed his team-leading eighth home run in the top of the seventh, while fellow sophomore Will Frazier (Mitchellville, Md.) added his second of the year in the fifth.
Redshirt freshman Brian Jarosinski (Olney, Md.) followed up on his 9-for-13 weekend with a 2-for-4 performance, extending his hitting streak to seven games. Freshman Justin Rowe (Gaithersburg, Md.) collected his first career hit in the sixth with a single to left field.
West Virginia, in first place in the Big East, won their eighth game in a row. The Mountaineers as a team have a batting average above .330 as well as 56 home runs in 38 games.
The Terps return home tomorrow to face the James Madison Dukes at 7 p.m. at Shipley Field, before heading to Durham, N.C. for a three-game weekend series with the Duke Blue Devils.
