May. 1, 2005

Final Stats

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Maryland baseball scored eight runs in the first three innings and held on to defeat No. 4 Miami 11-9 at Mark Light Field on Sunday afternoon. It was Maryland's second win over a top-five ranked team this season and seventh win in Atlantic Coast Conference play, tying for the program's most conference wins since 1980. Chad Durakis and Will Frazier each hit three-run home runs, and Joe Palumbo had a career-high four hits to lead the Maryland offense. Maryland starter Chris Clem gave up eight hits and four runs in 6.1 innings to get the win, improving Maryland to 21-26 overall and 7-20 in ACC play.

Will Frazier finished the day 3-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored. Frazier now has 12 RBI in his last 12 games, moving within one RBI of fourth on the school's career list.

Chad Durakis also had three hits and three RBI, and fellow freshman Joe Palumbo went 4-for-5 with a two-run single and two runs scored. Bobby Ryan and Truan Mehl each chipped in with a hit and RBI, and Matt Maropis tied for the team lead with two runs.

Chris Clem threw 114 pitches over 6.1 solid innings to earn the second win of his season and 12th of his career. Clem has now gone at least six innings and has walked two batters or less in nine of his last 10 starts.

Prior to today, the team had scored a total of 18 runs in Clem's last six starts (3.0 runs/g), but the offense exploded for 15 hits and 11 runs against the fourth-ranked Hurricanes today.

The Terrapins struck in the first inning for the fifth straight game behind a three-run home run by freshman Chad Durakis. Will Frazier got on base with a flare single into left field, and Truan Mehl hit the first pitch he saw from Ricky Orta up the middle and into center field. With runners on first and second with one out, Chad Durakis stepped to the plate swinging, sending the first pitch he saw high into the air down the left field line. The ball banged off the left field foul pole for Durakis' second career home run, giving Maryland an early 3-0 lead.

Miami got on the board with an unearned run in the bottom half of the first, closing to within 3-1. Leadoff hitter Danny Figueroa reached on a throwing error by third baseman Matt Maropis and moved to third as the ball bounced through the Miami bullpen up the right field line. Figueroa scored two pitches later on a single through the left side by left fielder Jon Jay.

Maryland put up another three-spot in the second inning, with all of the scoring coming on another three-run home run. This time, Will Frazier drove a 2-0 pitch from Ricky Orta over the 365-foot sign in left-center field to score Joe Palumbo and Elliot Singletary, who had each reached on singles. For Frazier, it was his team-leading seventh home run of the season and the 31st of his career. Frazier now stands one home run shy of second place on the school's career list (Scott Patterson, John Brisee - 32).

Chris Clem worked through a 1-2-3 second inning, and Maryland stayed on the offensive with two more runs in the top of the third inning.

Brian Jarosinski drew a full count and walked to start the inning, and then moved to second when third baseman Ryan Braun mishandled a groundball off the bat of Matt Maropis. Bobby Ryan moved both runners up a base with a sacrifice bunt up the first base line, and, with the infield in, Joe Palumbo hit a chopper over second base to score both runs. For Palumbo, it was his second hit of the game and ninth and 10th RBI of the season.

After a two-run double by Eddy Rodriguez in the Miami fourth, the Terp offense came back with two runs of its own in the top of the fifth inning. Matt Maropis led the inning off with an opposite-field single through the right side, stole second base and then scored on a single up the middle by Bobby Ryan. Ryan would come around and score on a passed ball by Miami catcher Eddy Rodriguez to give Maryland a 10-3 lead through five innings.

Miami loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning, but Chris Clem struck out designated hitter Alex Garabedian and induced two groundball outs to limit the damage to one run and maintain a sizeable Maryland lead.

Joe Palumbo led off the Maryland seventh with his career-high third hit of the game, was sacrificed to second on a bunt by Elliot Singletary and moved to third on a single by Will Frazier. The next batter, Truan Mehl, hit a fly ball to left field to score Palumbo from third base, giving the Terps an 11-4 lead.

Hurricane third baseman Ryan Braun cut into the seven-run Terrapin lead with his third home run of the series and 14th of the season. Braun lined a 1-1 Clem offering over the scoreboard in left field, scoring two runs and bringing the score to 11-6 through seven innings.

Miami made it interesting with a three-run ninth, but Maryland reliever Michael Meagher closed the door with an inning of relief. With a four-run lead when he entered, the junior did not get a save in the game, but he gained control of a tough situation and retired the last two batters he faced.

Maryland heads into the final weeks of its season, with a Wednesday doubleheader against Towson scheduled and its final conference series against Florida State at Shipley Field (May 6-8).