Terps Travel To James Madison For Tuesday Game

April 26, 2005

TERPS TRAVEL TO JAMES MADISON FOR TUESDAY GAME

Heading into the final week of April, Maryland baseball gears up for its final road games of the season. On Tuesday, the Terps travel to Harrisonburg, Va. for a third meeting against James Madison. The teams split back-to-back games in mid-March, with Maryland winning 3-2 on March 15th and falling 6-4 on March 16th.

Live audio from WMUC Sports and live game stats will be available for the mid-week game by logging onto www.umterps.com. Audio can also be found directly at www.wmucsports.com.

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 THE DUKES

2005 Record: 17-23 (5-7 Colonial Athletic Association).
2004 Record: 29-27 (8-16 CAA).
All-Time Series: Maryland trails, 25-17-0.
Last Meeting: James Madison 6, Maryland 4 - March 16, 2005.

JMU has lost five of its last seven games, but is coming off scoring 14 runs in a win over Towson on Sunday - its second-highest scoring output of the season. The Dukes enter Tuesday's third and final meeting between the two teams with a 17-23 overall record and a 10-11 mark at home.

Both of the team's leading hitters, Michael Cowgill and Kellen Kulbacki, are hitting over .350 and slugging over .620 this season. Cowgill leads the team with a .376 average, 41 runs scored, nine home runs and a .446 on-base percentage. Kulbacki has eight home runs and team-highs with a .632 slugging percentage and 25 extra-base hits. As a team, the Dukes have 42 home runs a .481 slugging percentage, but in two games against Maryland this season, they had just three extra-base hits (one home run) and a .290 slugging percentage.

Tuesday starting pitcher Greg Nesbitt is one of nine JMU pitchers with an earned run average over 5.50. As a staff, the Dukes have a 6.28 ERA and have allowed opponents to hit .294 and slug .460. Opposing hitters have a .343 against Nesbitt, who has also surrendered over 1.8 home runs per nine innings. Sophomore right-hander Travis Risser is the Dukes' top option out of the bullpen and has a team-high 17 appearances and three saves.

MIDDLE INFIELD LEADS DEFENSIVE RESURGENCE

After some early defensive struggles, the Maryland infield defense seems to have worked out its problems. Through 35 games this season, the team had averaged 2.6 errors per game. But in its last eight games, Terp defenders have nearly cut that number in half, averaging less than 1.4 errors per game.

The middle infield combination of Elliot Singletary and Dan Melvin has been a catalyst for the improvement. Melvin has committed one error in his last 10 games after 16 in his first 33, and Singletary, the team's steadiest defender, has one error in his last 13 games. Singletary has made 20 straight starts at second base, and in the last 17 of those, the team has spun 18 double plays.

CECIL BACK TO EARLY SEASON FORM

Freshman left-hander Brett Cecil is rediscovering the early season form that saw him start the year with eight scoreless innings in his first three appearances. In his last two games, Cecil has allowed just five base runners and one earned run in nine innings out of the bullpen.

In those two games, Cecil threw 93 of 146 pitches for strikes and walked just one batter. The freshman has found great success when he has command of the strike zone, as evidenced by a 1.75 ERA when he walks one batter or less (10 games, 25.2 innings).

Head Coach Terry Rupp has shown confidence in the freshman, giving Cecil the ball in 12 games this season - the second-most appearances on the team. Nine of those 12 games have been decided by two runs or less, including six in conference play.

JAWS FINDING HIS STROKE

Junior outfielder Brian Jarosinski got off to a slow start this season, but is starting to heat up as we head into the final week in April. He has hits in five straight games, including two or more in three of his last four games. In Friday's series opener against Wake Forest, Jarosinski drove in two runs, including a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

WILSON PRODUCING WINS

First baseman Jordan Wilson enters the week tied for second on the team with 26 runs batted in, including eight in the last 10 games. Wilson's production has been a big factor this season, as Maryland has an 11-4 record when he drives in a run and a 6-16 record when he does not.

Over the last 10 games, Wilson has gone 17-for-44 (.386) with six multi-hit games and eight RBI, raising his season average 15 points in the process. Over that span, Wilson has tied a career-high with three RBI twice, tied another career-best with four hits against Coppin State, had nearly half of his season doubles total (5 of 11) and reached base five times via walks and hit-by-pitches.

MEHL PACING THE TERP OFFENSE

Center fielder Truan Mehl continues to be Maryland's most consistent threat on offense, as he's had hits in six of his last seven games. In four of those seven, he's gone for at least three hits, including a couple of 4-for-5 days against Wake Forest.

In the second game of the Wake series (4/23), Mehl introduced himself to a television audience by going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. The only out he made was on an RBI groundout, as he proved himself worthy of Fox Sports Net's introduction piece to the broadcast.

With a monster 9-for-14 weekend against the Demon Deacons, Mehl moved into fifth place on the Atlantic Coast Conference hits list with 66 hits this season (1.53/g). He leads the team in that department as well as in runs (32), total bases (93), slugging (.514), on-base percentage (.421) and OPS (.935).

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