Home Baseball Doubleheader Against UMES Rescheduled For Tomorrow

March 8, 2005

Today's Maryland baseball doubleheader against Maryland-Eastern Shore has been postponed and rescheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m. because of inclement weather.

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TERPS HOST UMES IN DOUBLE DIP

After winning its second series of the season, Maryland baseball looks to build on its early progress in a doubleheader with Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Terps (6-4, 2-1 ACC) have won three of their last four games and will play their fourth and fifth games in the last week when they take on the Shore Hawks. UMES will come to College Park with a 2-9 overall record, including five losses to 2005 Maryland opponents, UNC Wilmington and Duke.

Audio broadcasts are available for the non-conference contests, with links available on www.umterps.com and www.wmucsports.com. Live stats will also be available by logging on to the www.umterps.com baseball site.

Information can now be submitted to join an online newsletter mailing list. Titled "The Maryland Baseball Bulletin", the newsletter is sent to you each time new information is posted to the Maryland website. This includes weekend previews, game recaps, feature stories and more.

PREVIEWING UMES

All-Time Series: Maryland leads 29-1-0.

2005 Record: 2-9

2004 Record: 3-44-1.

After losing its first five games of the season, UMES has come back and won two of its last four. The Shore Hawks are coming off a three-game set with Long Island University, in which it lost the final two games of the series. Against two of Maryland's 2005 opponents this season, Duke and UNC Wilmington, UMES went 0-5 and was outscored 55 to 18.

Senior outfielder Brandon McCabe leads the Shore Hawk offense with a .343 average, three home runs and 10 RBI. Fellow outfielders Joel Maher and Craig Munch are also hitting over .300, and Ronald Quick and Eric Gaines each have a team-high four stolen bases.

The UMES pitching staff has a collective 9.31 ERA after allowing 10 or more runs in seven of its 11 games this season. Tuesday's probable starters, Jason Janeski and Ken Richardson have each made two starts this season and are each 0-1 on the year. Janeski leads the team with 17.2 innings pitched, but has given up nine extra-base hits and four home runs. Richardson has thrown 15.2 innings this season, giving up 19 hits, walking eight and striking out five. He has also hit four batters and thrown four wild pitches.

CURRENT STATS AND TRENDS

Pitching

Dating back to last season, left-hander Casey Baron has given up two earned runs in his last 11 appearances of less than 2.0 innings (1.59 ERA in 11.1 innings) ... In the last two seasons, left-hander Chris Bowen has a 2.00 ERA when he comes out of the bullpen ... Brett Cecil gave up his first run of the season against Virginia Tech, but has a 0.90 ERA and 11:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio ... nearly half of Chris Clem's runs given up this season are unearned (6 of 13) ... the senior is 0-1 with a 2.78 ERA ... after some unfortunate earned runs at UNC Wilmington, Justin Hulse has lowered his ERA with each appearance (three) he's made ... Ben Pfinsgraff has struck out 22 batters this season, with only two walks ... Pfinsgraff has struck out 16, walked none and given up no extra-base hits in his last two starts.

Offense

Maryland is 3-0 when Chad Durakis scores at least one run ... Will Frazier is 5-for-8 with two home runs, seven RBI and two runs scored in his last two games ... With two home runs and one double against Virginia Tech, Frazier moved up on Maryland's career lists to fifth place in extra-base hits (71) and a seventh place tie in home runs (27) ... Brian Jarosinski is hitting .400 in his last four games (6-for-15) and has driven in a run in three of those four ... Nick Jowers has appeared in the team's last four games and has seen time as a left fielder, center fielder and pinch runner in five games this season ... Truan Mehl had career-highs of five hits and three runs on Sunday against Virginia Tech and tied a career-high with three RBI on Friday ... Dan Melvin has doubled in four of his last five games and leads the team with six doubles ... Melvin is also tied for second on the team with seven runs ... freshman Joe Palumbo is hitting .357 for the season and .385 over a current four-game hit streak ... Elliot Singletary was 5-for-13 with four runs scored, two RBI and a stolen base against Virginia Tech ... the switch-hitter has been hitting strictly right-handed because of shoulder pain ... Jason Von Behren raised his batting average 89 points (.148 to .237) with a 5-for-11, three-run, four-RBI series against Virginia Tech ... first baseman Jordan Wilson is leading the team with eight runs and a .438 average, and is tied for the team lead with nine RBI ... In his last seven games, Wilson has had three games with at least two RBI, three games with at least two runs and four games with at least two hits.

SHIPLEY FIELD OPENS TO RAVE REVIEWS

Though delayed with the postponement of last Wednesday's game against Towson, the re-opening of Shipley Field did not disappoint. Shipley opened to rave reviews in the Terps' conference-opening series, with a crowd of 412 in attendance despite windy and chilly conditions.

Contoured vinyl seats and remodeled restrooms have made for a more comfortable fan experience at Maryland games, while flags of Atlantic Coast Conference member institutions and a new sound system have given Shipley a more fan friendly, aesthetically pleasing look. On the field, the addition of batting cages and a bullpen gives both teams a better means to prepare for games, with padding and a revamped warning track making for a safer playing environment for players.

RECAPPING THE VIRGINIA TECH SERIES

Maryland got contributions across the board in taking two of three from Virginia Tech. The offense had 36 hits and scored 24 runs. The pitching gave up six runs in the first two games, both wins, and the defense put together a string of 16 errorless innings between the first and second games.

Five different Terps scored runs in the series opener, as Maryland scored two runs in the eighth inning to break a late 4-4 tie. Dan Melvin hit a three-run double in the third to help the Terps get off to a 4-0 lead, but Virginia Tech fought back to tie the game with runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. Melvin scored the eventual game-winner on a wild pitch in the eighth, and Jason Von Behren tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single.

Ben Pfinsgraff made his second straight quality start in Game Two of the series, as the Terps again rallied late for a 6-2 win. Pfinsgraff breezed through five scoreless innings, before giving up two runs in the sixth and leaving with a no-decision. Jordan Wilson was 2-for-4 with two runs, with each of his hits starting Maryland scoring innings. Chris Bowen threw three scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win, his first of the season.

With the wind blowing out in the third and final game, the teams combined for 36 hits and 25 runs as Tech out-slugged Maryland, 13-12. Six home runs were hit in the game, equaling the number of homers hit in all of Maryland's first nine games combined. Will Frazier hit one of those, his second in two games, and drove in a career-high tying five RBI. Truan Mehl went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate and made an impressive diving catch on a sinking line drive early in the game.

TERPS WITH CAREER DAYS AGAINST VIRGINIA TECH

Will Frazier tied career-highs with four hits and five RBI (3/6) ... Truan Mehl had career-highs with five hits and three runs (3/6) ... Dan Melvin had a career-high three RBI (3/4) ... Joe Palumbo had his first career multi-hit day (3/6) ... Elliot Singletary set new career-bests with three hits and three runs (3/6) ... Jason Von Behren hit his first career home run (at UMD) and had his first career multi-RBI day (3/6).

PITCHING KEEPS TERPS IN GAMES

The surprising start of Brett Cecil is one of many early success stories for Terp pitchers this season. Cecil picked up saves in his first two appearances, and has given up just one earned run in 10.0 innings. Both of Cecil's saves have been in relief of Ben Pfinsgraff, who won his first three starts of the season.

Pfinsgraff has given up just 17 hits and five earned runs in 25 innings so far this season, and has a 22:2 strikeout-to-walk ratio. A Saturday starter in each of the first four weekends, the junior right-hander has only allowed more baserunners than innings pitched in just one of his four starts. He has thrown four different pitches for strikes, including 74 of his 88 total pitches against Towson at the Charleston Challenge.

Six of the 10 Maryland pitchers who have seen action this year have sub-3.00 ERAs through the first 10 games, and the Maryland staff has climbed to fourth in the ACC with a 3.93 team ERA. With a number of viable relief options in tight games, head coach Terry Rupp has also been able to keep all of those arms fresh. Only Brett Cecil has made more than three relief appearances in 10 games this season, and the Terps' top two starters (Pfinsgraff and Chris Clem) are both among the ACC's innings pitched leaders.

Home Baseball Doubleheader Against UMES Rescheduled For Tomorrow

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