Terp Baseball Falls To Clemson, 14-3
3/25/2005 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 25, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, MD. - Maryland baseball fought back from a two-run, first inning deficit, but six Maryland errors and eight runs in the sixth and seventh innings put an early 6-3 game out of reach. Freshman center fielder Nick Jowers went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Truan Mehl extended his hit streak to a team season-high eight games, as Maryland fell to Clemson, 14-3 on Friday. The teams will meet in the second of a three-game series Saturday at 7 p.m. with Maryland's Ben Pfinsgraff expected to start against Clemson's Kris Harvey.
The team's 6-7-8-9 hitters accounted for four of the team's six hits and all three of the team's runs batted in. Bobby Ryan was 0-for-2 with an RBI groundout, and Jason Von Behren drove in his 14th run of the season with an RBI single in the second.
Clemson got out to an early 2-0 lead, as Brad Chalk and Taylor Harbin each reached on base hits and scored in the inning. Chalk hit a line drive single with one out just out of reach of second baseman Joe Palumbo and scored on a double to the gap by Harbin. Harbin moved to third on a groundout by Tyler Colvin, then scored on a wild pitch by Chris Clem.
Clem settled down and retired the Tigers in order in the second, and Maryland struck back in the bottom of the inning. Will Frazier started the inning with a single through the left side of the infield, and Elliot Singletary reached with his third hit-by-pitch of the season. Jason Von Behren brought Frazier around with an RBI single past shortstop Stan Widmann. Singletary advanced to second on the play and to third on a passed ball the next at-bat. Bobby Ryan put the ball in play and collected his first RBI of the season with an RBI groundout to second base. Nick Jowers capped the Maryland scoring and extended his current hit streak to five games with an RBI single through the left side.
Three Maryland errors in the top of the third led to two unearned runs and a 4-3 Clemson lead. A walk and a bunt single put runners on first and second with no outs, and a throwing error by Chris Clem moved both runners up a base. With two outs, another Terrapin error scored Herman Demmink from third base and extended the inning. The next batter, Travis Storrer, hit an RBI single to left to tie the game up at 3-3. Brad Chalk scored on an overthrow to third base on the play, putting Clemson up 4-3 heading into the bottom of the third.
The Tigers put another two runs on the board in the fourth to extend their lead to 6-3. Catcher Adrian Casanova had an RBI single in the inning, and scored the team's other run (unearned).
Clemson put across five runs in the top of the sixth and three more in the top of the seventh to pull ahead 14-3, the eventual final score. Brett Tidball saw action for his second straight game and didn't allow a run in the eighth inning, and Brett Jones closed out the game with a hitless and scoreless ninth.
The teams will continue the three-game series with a 7 p.m. first pitch tomorrow night. Right-handers Ben Pfinsgraff (3-1, 2.91 ERA) and Kris Harvey (3-1, 3.34 ERA) are the game's probable starters. Live game stats and live game audio from WMUC sports are both available for the game by logging on to Maryland's official athletic website, www.umterps.com.
