April 2, 2005

Final Stats

ATLANTA, Ga. - Ben Pfinsgraff and Michael Meagher made all the pitches, and the Terp defense made all the plays on Saturday as Maryland took down top-ranked Georgia Tech by a score of 2-1. Pfinsgraff gave up just five hits and one run in 7.2 innings to one of the nation's top hitting teams, and Michael Meagher closed the door by retiring all four batters he faced. Truan Mehl was 3-for-3 and drove in both Maryland runs with a pair of RBI hits, as the Terps left just four men on base in the game.

Maryland beat its first top-five ranked team in nearly two years, with the last win coming over No. 5 North Carolina State on May 3, 2003. With the win, the Terps snapped an eight-game ACC losing streak and improved to 14-15 overall and 4-10 in conference play.

Pfinsgraff got big outs all game long, allowing just one of 11 base runners to score in 7.2 innings. He threw a season-high 131 pitches, including 78 for strikes, on his way to winning his fourth game of the season. Meagher entered the game with runners on first and second in the eighth inning and got a key groundout to end the Georgia Tech threat. He worked a 1-2-3 ninth and recorded his second save in the last three games. Pfinsgraff and Meagher combined to hold Georgia Tech to a season-low tying one run and just five hits (second fewest of the season).

After a six-run fourth inning in the first game of the series, Maryland pitchers combined to hold the Yellow Jackets to five hits and one run over the last 13 innings.

After recording his 50th career double earlier in the day, Will Frazier extended a hitting streak to 10 games with a 1-for-2 day at the plate. Nick Jowers and Elliot Singletary scored runs for the Terps, and Singletary hit his first triple of the season.

Maryland got on the board in its first at-bat, turning an Elliot Singletary leadoff triple into a 1-0 lead. Singletary drove a Lee Hyde offering to the base of the right-center wall and stretched it into a triple when it bounced past Tech outfielders Danny Payne and Jeff Kindel. He scored on a bloop single by Truan Mehl for the Terps' first run of the game. Georgia Tech second baseman Mike Trapani dove and got his glove on Mehl's flare into right field, but the ball hit the ground for Mehl's 38th hit of the season.

Georgia Tech tied the game up in the bottom half of the inning behind a two-out RBI single by Steven Blackwood. Danny Payne led off the inning with his ACC-best 33rd walk of the season, stole second base and advanced to third on a fly out before scoring on Blackwood's single into center field. Ben Pfinsgraff threw 41 pitches and walked three batters in that first inning, but limited the damage by leaving three Yellow Jackets on base.

Both starters settled down in the second inning, with each working through scoreless innings. Jordan Wilson, making his second straight start at third base, robbed Mike Trapani of a base hit in the Georgia Tech second with a diving stop and throw across the diamond.

The Terps jumped back on top with a pair of hits and a run in the top of the third. Nick Jowers led off the inning with a single into left field and scored two batters later on a Truan Mehl double. Mehl ripped a first pitch fastball into the right field corner for his second RBI hit of the game and 10th double of the season.

Both starting pitchers found their rhythm and kept the game at 2-1 throughout. Ben Pfinsgraff put some men on base, including three straight leadoff men in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but came up with big outs when he needed them. He held Tech scoreless after the first inning, despite surpassing his entire season walk total of five in the game.

Michael Meagher closed the door on the game by retiring four straight Georgia Tech batters. He relieved Pfinsgraff in the bottom of the eighth inning, leaving men on first and second base with a key groundball out to second baseman Elliot Singletary. He worked a 1-2-3 ninth and struck out the final batter of the game to seal the victory.

The Terps will look for the series win tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. when Ryan Moorer (0-4, 10.80 ERA) faces Georgia Tech's Blake Wood (4-0, 3.93 ERA).