Maryland Gears Up For ACC Baseball Tournament
5/18/2003 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
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May 18, 2003
Salem, Va. - The Maryland Terrapins (20-32, 6-17 ACC) will take on the Duke Blue Devils (record) to open the 2003 ACC Baseball Championship Tournament in Salem, Va. on Tuesday, May 20. The eight-seeded Terps look to win their third straight game against the No. 9 Blue Devils at 7:30 pm at Memorial Baseball Stadium, the home of the Class A Salem Avalanches. Fans can follow the action with live stats or listen to a live radio broadcast by 88.1 WMUC on www.wmucsports.com.
With a victory, the Terrapins would advance to the double-elimination portion of the conference tournament and face ACC regular-season champion and top-ranked Florida State on Wednesday. The 2002 ACC Championship marks the tenth straight year the Terps have played on opening day, with Maryland advancing to meet the next opponent in 1994, 1995 and 1999. The 1999 Terrapins defeated Duke, fell to Florida State, and eliminated North Carolina before falling to Clemson in the quarterfinal round.
The Terrapins took two of three games from the Blue Devils in the regular season series, winning 3-1 on April 26 in a game that was continued the following day due to rain, and taking the series finale 8-1 on April 27 with the aid of an eight-run ninth-inning rally. Duke handed the Terps a 10-9 defeat in the play-in game last season.
Maryland has competed in every ACC Baseball Championship Tournament since the event's inception in 1973. Third-year head coach Terry Rupp and the Terrapins look to bring the team's strong play against conference foes into the 2003 championships and improve upon the Terps' 15-48 overall tournament record.
Earlier in the season, Maryland won three ACC series in a three-week span, the first time since the team began playing three-game sets in 1990 that the team won three consecutive series in a season in a row, and it marks just the second time they have won three conference series in a season. For the season, Maryland has won four weekend series (New York Tech, Clemson, Duke, NC State), also an all-time high.
Terps vs. ACC (Season): Buffone: .312, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB; Costantino: .277, 2 HR, 8 RBI; Frazier: .271, 8 RBI; Gemmill: .343, 4 HR, 12 RBI; George: .333, 1 HR, 10 RBI; Jarosinski: .350, 1 HR, 9 RBI; Maxey: .147, 2 RBI; Maxwell: .345, 2 HR, 15 RBI, 5 SB; Sargent: .283, 4 HR, 15 RBI.
SCHMOLL BREAKS UMD CAREER AND SINGLE-SEASON K MARKS
Senior Steve Schmoll's (Rockville, Md.) incredible journey from walk-on catcher to one of the top starters in the ACC continued last weekend, as he struck out eight against No. 1 Florida State to pass Eric Milton for the best single-season strikeout total in Terrapin history. Two weeks earlier, Schmoll broke the career strikeout mark against Duke, striking out nine and passing Brandon Agamennone's 254.
Earlier in the season, Schmoll was honored as by Collegiate Baseball as a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week after tossing two complete game shutouts and striking out 25 batters.
Schmoll was also named the ACC Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season last week after picking up saves in both of the Terps' wins over then-No. 5 N.C. State. Scheduled to pitch Sunday, the closer/starter pitched the final two innings of Friday's 5-2 win, and shut the door on Saturday's 8-7 victory.
Schmoll is fifth in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 13.00, the only player in the ACC to be ranked in the national top 30 in any category. He also leads the ACC in strikeouts (119) and shutouts (2), and his strikeouts per game are the most in the ACC by nearly three, ahead of N.C. State reliever Joey Devine (10.45). Schmoll has struck out eight or more batters in six of his eight starts this season since being converted from the closer's role, while still coming out of the bullpen in crucial situations.
A biological engineering resources major with a 3.659 grade point average, Schmoll has been named to the ACC Honor Roll three times, was selected to the 2003 Verizon District II All-Academic team, and is active in volunteer work, including work at the Washington Adventist Hospital, Special Olympics, Help the Homeless Walks, and the Brooks Grove Nursing Home. Schmoll is a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, engineering student council, Biological Resources Engineering Society, and participates in activities with Alpha Epsilon Delta Pre-Med Honor Society.
MAXWELL LEADS TERPS ON FIELD, IN THE CLASSROOM
Sophomore Justin Maxwell (Olney, Md.) is making tremendous strides both on the field and in the classroom. Last month, Maxwell was just one of 11 college baseball athletes selected as a 2003 Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar by Black Issues in Higher Education. This month, Maxwell joined teammate Steve Schmoll as members of the Verizon Distrcit II All-Academic team.
Maxwell, an animal scienes major, boasts a 3.93 cumulative grade point average, the highest of all baseball recipients of Ashe award, and emphasized by a perfect 4.0 in fall of 2002. Also recruited by Harvard, Maxwell finished his tenure at Sherwood High School with a 4.0, and was drafted in the 43rd round by the Baltimore Orioles.
In his second year on the Terrapin baseball team, Maxwell has been just as spectacular on the field. He leads the team in home runs (10), runs batted in (43) and stolen bases (11), to go along with a .314 batting average. He was named Maryland's Student Athlete of the Week on March 18 after going 7-for-11 (.636) against then-No. 14 Wake Forest.
CLOSING THE BOOK ON THEIR TERP CAREERS
Reliever Matt Basinger (Connellsville, Pa.) has made 24 apperances out of the bullpen this year, catapulting him to second all-time in Maryland history. His 83 career appearances place him securely in second - 11 ahead of third place (Mike Ginsburg, 72) and six behind first place (Chuck Devereux, 89). Basinger has registered 23 appearances or more in each of the past three years, and with one more appearances, he will check in at No. 25 in ACC history.
With nine steals this season, outfielder Daryl Whitmer (Waldorf, Md.) sprinted to seventh all-time in steals, passing Steve Neuberger's 35.
As noted above, Schmoll came from virtual obscurity to race up the all-time charts and claim both the career and single-season strikeout records. His 12.96 strikeouts per nine innings is the fourth-best number in team history, and he is third in career innings pitched and fifth in career appearances.
On deck: Sophomore Jason Maxey (Columbia, Md.) is already just two home runs away from the career top 10...Junior Anthony Buffone (Manalapan, N.J.) needs 18 RBI to join the top 10, and is already sixth in career doubles, and is ninth in career hits.
SEASON IN REVIEW
Some highlights from the 2003 regular season:
BLAME IT ON THE RAIN
Maryland had 12 games cancelled, postponed or delayed due to inclement weather. After opening the season in mid-February in the 70-degree weather of DeLand, Fla., Maryland returned home to one of the biggest snowstorms in recent history, cancelling four games and forcing the home series with Binghamton to Norfolk, Va. at Virginia Wesleyan College.
The Terps' March 1 matchup against Binghamton ended one of the longest stretches of inactivity in Terps history. The longest amount of days between games came in 1937, when the team went 23 days without playing. However, since 1945, the team has gone 12 days or more without a game just five times, most recently a 12 day-stretch in 2001.
The strange spring weather continued on March 30, as a matchup with Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. was cancelled due to a freak snowstorm. The late snowfall was not completely unusual, as a game at UNC-Asheville was cancelled on March 20, 2001.
GROWING UP
As Maryland's push to become a bigger force in college baseball experienced a few growing pains, as the team stepped up their non-conference schedule from in-state opponents to regional powerhouses. While last year's opponents had a collective winning percentage of .512, this year's had a winning percentage of .565, including nine teams that either are or were ranked in the top 25 at some point in the year.
Maryland won five games against such teams, and kept some of them extremely close, earning high praise from opposing coaches.
COSTANTINO CHASING FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA HONORS
Freshman Mike Costantino (Somerset, Mass.), looking to follow the lead of Jason Maxey and Will Frazier, is putting up a solid freshman campaign in his first year with the Terps. Drafted by the Minnesota Twins out of high school, Costantino has lived up to all of the hype, starting 47 of 51 games and hitting well above .300 for the entire season. The third baseman leads the team in doubles and on-base percentage and is tied for second in hits. More of a contact hitter, Costantino has launched two home runs in the past four games, including one off of Florida State starter Trent Peterson.
GEORGE READY TO GO
Shortstop Kyle George (Bel Air, Md.) said he has been cleared by doctors to play after receiving a concussion last week in practice. George missed all three games against No. 1 Florida State after being out for just two games all season and three in his career. George played Wednesday vs. William & Mary and returned to form, going 2-for-4.
