March 23, 2005

Final Stats

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - Maryland baseball fell behind big early in the first of two games today, but outscored Duquesne 15-3 over the final 13 innings of the doubleheader to earn a split. Twelve different Terps had hits and 10 scored runs to help jumpstart a Maryland offense that had scored 20 runs in its previous six games. Dan Melvin led that group with six hits and five runs, and Truan Mehl extended his team-best hitting streak to eight games.

Hitting out of the second spot in the lineup, Melvin went a combined 6-for-11 with five runs and three RBI for the day. Truan Mehl extended a hit streak to eight games, and Elliot Singletary continued a streak of 10 straight hits for extra bases.

Freshmen Chad Durakis and Nick Jowers each extended current hit streaks, with Durakis' current six-game streak tying for the team's second longest of the season. Jowers extended his streak to four games and walked twice on the day. In his last five games, Jowers is hitting .400, with five walks, two stolen bases and a .550 on-base percentage. Jordan Wilson had an RBI streak snapped at five games in the first game, but brought his season RBI total to a team-best 17 with a 2-for-5, two RBI second game.

On the mound, Mike Sufczynski won his second straight start with 6.2 innings, 7 hits, 2 runs and 5 strikeouts in the second game. Freshmen Brett Jones and Brett Tidball and junior transfer Michael Meagher each got their first career work to close out the game, and each held Duquesne scoreless.

Duquesne jumped out to an early lead in the first of the two games, scoring 13 runs in the first five innings and holding on for a 14-9 win. Maryland scored five late runs to make the game close, but couldn't overcome a 13-4 fifth-inning deficit. Brad Taylor closed out the game with 5.0 solid innings, giving the Terps a chance at a comeback, but Maryland wouldn't get any closer than four runs the rest of the way.

Will Frazier and Dan Melvin each led the Terps with three hits, and Frazier hit his team-best fourth home run of the season, a solo shot in the third inning. Frazier, Melvin and Elliot Singletary each scored two runs, and Chad Durakis extended a career-best hitting streak to six games with a 1-for-5, two RBI game. In all, eight of Maryalnd's nine starters had hits, and the team combined to draw seven walks.

The Terps grabbed an early lead in the bottom of the second in Game Two, scoring two runs in the inning. Jordan Wilson led the inning off with a double to right-center field, moved to third on a groundout by Jason Von Behren and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brian Jarosinski to start the Maryland scoring. With two outs and no one on, catcher Bobby Ryan started another Terrapin rally with a double to left-center, and Nick Jowers followed with a first-pitch single through the left side.

With Joe Palumbo at the plate, Jowers got caught in a rundown on a pickoff attempt between first and second base, and Duquesne overthrew second base to score Ryan from third base. Palumbo would fly out to end the inning, but not before Maryland put a pair across for a 2-0 lead.

Duquesne would answer in the top of the third, getting a run back on an RBI double by right fielder Corey Bugno. First baseman Mike Duganich led off the inning with a double, but was tagged out trying to advance to third on a fielder's choice. The play allowed Alex Sharick, who reached on the fielder's choice, to move to second base. Sharick would eventually score on the double by Bugno, cutting the Maryland lead to 2-1 heading to the bottom of the third.

In the bottom half of the inning, Maryland put up another two-spot to take a 4-1 lead. Truan Mehl and Dan Melvin each singled to start the inning, and each scored two batters later on a two-out, two-run single by Jason Von Behren.

After a 1-2-3 top of the fourth, the Terps put together three two-out hits to score three more runs and take a 7-1 lead. Truan Mehl led off the two-out rally with an RBI double to plate Nick Jowers who had reached on a one-out single. Dan Melvin followed with an RBI single, and Will Frazier brought Melvin around with a single to left-center.

Up 7-1, the Terps tacked on three insurance runs in the middle innings, and Brett Jones, Brett Tidball and Michael Meagher closed out the game with 2.2 innings of scoreless relief.

Maryland will look to snap a five-game conference winless streak this weekend when it hosts a three-game set against Clemson. Live stats will be available for the series by logging on to www.umterps.com, and live audio can be found at both umterps.com and wmucsports.com.