April 23, 2005

Final Stats

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - In what was a close game throughout, Wake Forest used a five-hit, four-run (all unearned) fourth inning to come away with a 7-6 victory over Maryland baseball on Saturday. Wake Forest moved to 18-23 overall and 10-13 in Atlantic Coast Conference play with the win, while Maryland fell to 19-23 and 6-17 in conference. Center fielder Truan Mehl led the Terps with a second straight 4-for-5 day against the Demon Deacons, and Will Frazier moved into sixth place on the Maryland all-time runs batted in list with a pair of RBI in the game.

Mehl and third baseman Matt Maropis each doubled twice in the game, as Maryland out-hit Wake Forest 13-9. The only out Mehl made was on an RBI groundout, as he led a group of seven Terrapins with base hits.

Both Mehl and Matt Maropis had a pair of doubles in the game, and Dan Melvin drove in two runs with an RBI double. The Terps had a total of five extra-base hits to none for Wake Forest, but four unearned runs and a costly wild pitch in the fourth inning helped aid the Wake victory.

Wake got on the board first with a two-run second inning. Ryder Mathias walked to lead off the inning, and Matt Miller reached on a bunt single as he tried to sacrifice Mathias into scoring position. Both runners moved up a base on a wild pitch by Ben Pfinsgraff, and the Demon Deacons manufactured two runs with a RBI groundout to the right side by Casey Sterk and a sacrifice fly to deep center field by Andy Goff.

Maryland came back in a big way in the bottom of the third inning, putting together a five-hit, four-run rally off Wake starter Charlie Mellies. Matt Maropis led off with a double down the left field line, and Elliot Singletary singled into left field two pitches later. Maropis was held up at third base on the play, but came across with the Terps' first run after a bobble by left fielder Brett Linnenkohl. The next batter, Truan Mehl singled up the middle, and he and Singletary moved to second and third base, respectively, after a wild pitch by Mellies. Will Frazier scored Singletary from third with an RBI infield single, and Dan Melvin scored Mehl and Frazier with a two-out, two-run double off the left field wall.

In the Wake fourth, Ryder Mathias led off with a single, but Ben Pfinsgraff came back to retire the next two batters to leave Mathias on first base with two outs. Andy Goff hit a groundball between third base and shortstop, and the ball got under the glove of third baseman Matt Maropis for a two-out error. Wake Forest took advantage of the miscue by stringing together three straight RBI singles by Matt Antonelli, Ben Ingold and J.B. Tucker. The Demon Deacons went up 6-4 with the four-run inning and wouldn't trail the rest of the way.

The Terps kept the game close with a run in the bottom half of the inning, as Truan Mehl scored Bobby Ryan with an RBI groundout to the shortstop Andy Goff. Mehl pulled into a tie for the team lead with his 26th RBI of the season and brought the Terps within a run at 6-5.

Wake Forest tacked on a run in the top of the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by Ryder Mathias, but Maryland answered in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single by Will Frazier. Truan Mehl led off the inning with his second double of the game and 15th of the season and came around to score his team-leading 32nd run of the season.

In its final at-bat, Truan Mehl singled with one out, and Jordan Wilson hit a two-out infield single to bring up Brian Jarosinski, who delivered yesterday's walk-off base hit. Jarosinski lined the first pitch he saw into deep right field, but Casey Sterk was playing deep and camped under it close out the game.

The teams will meet again tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the third and deciding game of the series, as Chris Clem (1-6, 5.92 ERA) will face Wake's Brian Bach (1-1, 3.76 ERA) in the probable pitching matchup.