May 24, 2005

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - For the second straight year, Maryland baseball won its ACC Tournament opener, using a ninth-inning RBI single by Will Frazier to score a 5-4 win over Virginia Tech on Tuesday at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville. Terp starting pitcher, Chris Clem, worked into the eighth inning of the game and set a new school record for career innings pitched with 298.2, and Will Frazier had a team-high three hits and two RBI in the win. Maryland next plays Wake Forest at 8 p.m. tonight for the right to play in to the main tournament bracket and face No. 1 seed Georgia Tech.

Clem went 7.2 innings, gave up 10 hits and four runs and struck out a season-high seven batters, but got a no-decision after he left in a tie game in the eighth. He entered the day three innings behind Maryland career leader John Rayne (294.0) and moved his career mark to 298.2 innings. His seven strikeouts also moved him into fifth place on the career strikeouts list with 220.

Seth Overbey relieved Clem in the eighth inning and recorded one out to earn his third win of the season. Michael Meagher came on to work a scoreless ninth to pick up his fifth save of the season.

Dan Melvin returned from a foot injury to start at third base and came through with two hits and two runs scored. He also sacrificed the game-winning run into scoring position in the ninth inning and moved his season average over the .300 mark with a 2-for-4 day.

Catcher Bobby Ryan had two hits in the game and also ended the game by throwing a Virginia Tech runner out at second base on a stolen base attempt.

Maryland got on the board first on a Virginia Tech error in the second inning. After Matt Maropis reached on a two-out single to left field, catcher Bobby Ryan lined a 1-0 pitch from Virginia Tech starter Ryan Kennedy into left field. Left fielder Sheldon Adams came in on the ball, but it bounced off the top of his glove and towards the left field wall. Maropis was running on contact and came around to score on the play, and Bobby Ryan moved to second base on the one-run error.

The top of the Maryland order tacked on another two runs in the top half of the third inning to take an early 3-0 lead. Dan Melvin and Truan Mehl started things off with back-to-back one-out singles, putting runners on first and second base for the heart of Maryland's order. With Melvin and Mehl in motion, Will Frazier ripped a line drive up the middle, scoring Melvin easily from second base and advancing Mehl to third. The next batter, Chad Durakis, hit a spinning ground ball that saw its way through the right side of the infield to score Mehl and give the Terrapins a three-run lead through two and a half innings.

Virginia Tech plated runs in the bottom of the third and fifth innings to even the game up at 3-3. Sheldon Adams atoned for his second-inning error by driving in two of the Hokies' three runs with a pair of RBI singles. Chris Stanton also connected on a two-out RBI double in the fifth, as the Hokies pulled themselves into a 3-3 tie.

Both teams scored runs in the seventh inning to keep the game tied, this time at 4-4. Dan Melvin scored on an errant throw in the top of the inning, and Tech tied the game up on an RBI groundout by Warren Schaeffer.

Chris Clem got the first two outs in the Virginia Tech eighth, but gave way to junior Seth Overbey with runners on first and second. After walking the first batter he faced, Overbey worked out of a bases loaded jam by retiring Tech shortstop Warren Schaeffer.

Elliot Singletary led off the Maryland ninth with a hard single into left field, and Dan Melvin followed with his team-leading eighth sacrifice bunt of the season to move Singletary into scoring position. With first base open, Tech opted to intentionally walk Truan Mehl to set up a righty-vs.-righty matchup and a double play possibility. Will Frazier, who came within one RBI of second place on the school's career RBI list today, came through with his second RBI single of the day, scoring Singletary from second base.

Up 5-4, left-hander Michael Meagher came in to close out the game. He gave up just an infield single and retired two batters. Nate Parks, who reached on a slow chopper up the middle, attempted to steal second base with two outs in the inning, and Bobby Ryan made a perfect throw to a covering Elliot Singletary for the final out of the game.

Maryland will now play its second game of the day at 8 p.m. when it takes on Wake Forest, a 10-1 winner over Duke in the first game of the day. The winner of the 8 p.m. will move into the main tournament bracket and take on No. 1 seed Georgia Tech Wednesday at 7 p.m.