April 26, 2003

Box Score

Durham, N.C. - Senior Steve Schmoll (Rockville, Md.) became Maryland's all-time strikeout leader today in game two of a doubleheader plagued by rain. Schmoll notched strikeout No. 255 in the sixth inning by sitting down Duke senior Brian Patrick, passing Brandon Agamennone (254).

Schmoll's pursuit of Eric Milton's single-season record will have to wait, however, as the game was called due to lightning with the Terps leading 3-1 in the top of the seventh. The game will resume at noon Sunday, with Sunday's originally scheduled series finale to follow approximately 30 minutes afterwards.

Maryland (14-26, 2-13 ACC) dropped the first game 3-2, with Duke first baseman Tim Layden snagging a scorching line drive off the bat of junior Anthony Buffone (Manalapan, N.J.) with runners on first and third. The win was the Blue Devils' (15-26, 1-14 ACC) first conference win of the year.

The Terps jumped out to an early lead in the second game on a double by Buffone and an RBI-single by redshirt senior Ray Gemmill (Silver Spring, Md.). The double was the 40th of Buffone's career, tying him for sixth all-time in career doubles, while the Terps are 11-2 when they score first.

Maryland added two more in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Will Frazier (Mitchellville, Md.) and RBI-single by sophomore Joe Sargent (Chesapeake Beach, Md.).

The Blue Devils added a run of their own in the bottom of the inning, with leadoff hitter Adam Murray reaching on his second bunt single of the day, advancing on a groundout, and coming around on a double by Layden.

Since Schmoll will not be available tomorrow to finish the game, he finished the game with six innings, three hits, one earned run, one walk and nine strikeouts.

The first game had all the makings of a pitchers duel, with sophomore Chris Clem (Berwyn, Pa.) and Duke starter Jeff Alleva matching each other pitch for pitch. The game was scoreless through five, with Alleva striking out six and Clem keeping the ball on the ground.

But Clem started the fifth with a leadoff walk to Javier Socorro, and Duke strung together three consecutive hits to go up 3-0. Maryland's solid defense saved a run when freshman third baseman Mike Costantino (Somerset, Mass.) made a heads up play to get Layden in a rundown between third and home on a groundout.

Senior reliever Matt Basinger (Connellsville, Pa.) threw 2.1 scoreless innings to keep the Terps in the game as they mounted a rally that would fall just short.

Redshirt freshman Brian Jarosinski (Olney, Md.), who earlier in the game singled to extend his hitting streak to a team-high 10 games, started the inning with his second hit, followed by a walk to sophomore Bobby Ryan (Damascus, Md.).

Alleva was pulled in favor of closer Walker, who allowed a textbook sacrifice bunt to senior Kyle George (Bel Air, Md.) and Sargent's RBI-single. But Costantino popped foul on the first pitch he saw, and Layden's snag of Buffone's line drive sealed the Blue Devil's first conference win of the year.

Weather plagued the series from the start. A rainout Friday forced the Saturday doubleheader, which was itself delayed 30 minutes. The first game was played under mostly sun and warm temperatures, but storm clouds rolled back in at around 6 p.m.