Terp Baseball Closes Conference Season With Weekend Set Against No. 15 Florida State

May 6, 2005

TERP BASEBALL CLOSES CONFERENCE SEASON WITH WEEKEND SET AGAINST NO. 15 FLORIDA STATE

A win over Towson this week matched last season's win total (22) and a conference win over No. 4 Miami on Sunday matched the program's most ACC wins since 1980 (seven). The team will look to improve upon last season's win total and double last season's conference win total (four) when it hosts No. 15 Florida State this weekend. The three-game set comes in the middle of a current seven-game Maryland home stand and will wrap up the 2005 conference season.

Audio broadcasts for all three games will again be available on www.wmucsports.com, and live stats will be available by logging on to the www.umterps.com baseball site.

Sunday's series finale will be Maryland Senior Day, and 11 Terrapin seniors will be honored with framed jerseys in 30-minute ceremony before the 1 p.m. first pitch. Activities will begin at approximately 12:30 p.m.

PREVIEWING FLORIDA STATE

2005 Record: 38-14 (12-9 Atlantic Coast Conference).
2004 Record: 45-23 (16-8 ACC).
All-Time Series: Maryland trails, 3-42-0.
Last Meeting: Florida State 13, Maryland 6 - March 21, 2004.

Florida State will come to College Park with an overall record of 38-14 and a 12-9 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play. The Seminoles hold a 42-3 advantage in the schools' all-time series and have won 21 straight games over the Terrapins. This will be the fifth time in the last six years that Maryland will play Florida State in its last conference series of the season, as the Terps look to close out the season on a strong note.

Sophomore outfielder Shane Robinson has been one of the nation's top hitters all season long and comes into the weekend leading the ACC and ranking ninth nationally in batting (.438 average). Robinson may be the quickest player in the ACC, and he leads the league with 38 stolen bases. Daniel Wardell (seven home runs in just 86 at-bats) and Gibbs Chapman (six homers) are the Seminoles' primary power threats, but the team produces runs without putting much stock in the long ball. Seven Seminole hitters have at least nine doubles, and FSU leads the conference in sacrifices (sac flies and sac hits) with 74 this season.

The Florida State pitching staff ranks third in the ACC in earned run average and is led by one of the nation's premier relievers in Tyler Chambliss. Chambliss is tied for third in the nation with 12 saves, has allowed opponents to hit just .189 and averages 13.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Friday's starter Bryan Henry also has a sub-2.00 ERA, as he's compiled a 5-2 record, 1.68 ERA and a stellar 1.30 walks per nine innings. Kevin Lynch leads the ACC in appearances with 32, and Saturday starter Barrett Browning has a 3.11 ERA despite 42 walks in 72.1 innings.

CURRENT STATS AND TRENDS

Pitching
Josh Andrews started Maryland's `staff day' at Miami on Friday (4/29) and held the Hurricanes scoreless in the first inning for just the 12th time all season ... including that game and a three-inning start against Towson this week, Andrews has a 2.00 ERA in three starts in 2005 ... Chris Bowen has a 1.62 ERA and .133 batting average against in four home appearances ... Brett Cecil has given up two runs in his last 11.1 innings and has a 2.08 ERA in the 12 appearances in which he walks less than two batters ... Chris Clem has gone at least 6.0 innings in nine of his last 10 starts and has walked two batters or less in nine of his 11 starts on the season ... With a team-high 24 appearances this season, Justin Hulse not only ranks seventh in the ACC, but is now tied for eighth on Maryland's single season appearances list ... last season, Hulse climbed to the top of that list with a school-record 28 appearances ... senior Sean Kane retired 10 straight batters between a two-inning appearance at Miami and a season-high five-inning appearance against Towson ... he was the only Terp pitcher to hold Miami scoreless in consecutive innings in the game, and he allowed just three hits in the team's loss to Towson ... Michael Meagher has allowed zero earned runs in 11 of his 12 appearances this season ... Ryan Moorer is 1-0 with a .129 opponent batting average in his last three appearances (9.0 innings) ... if you included his exhibition stats against the Bowie Baysox, Moorer would be 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP in his last four appearances ... Seth Overbey has given up one extra-base hit in his last 7.2 innings, after allowing 10 in his first 11.1 innings this season ... Ben Pfinsgraff leads the team with six quality starts this season ... seven of his 10 starts have been decided by two runs or less, and he has walked more than one batter in just two of his starts ... Mike Sufczynski dropped the first decision of his career on Wednesday against Towson, falling to 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA in 2005 ... Sufczynski has given up two earned runs or less in seven of his eight starts ... Brett Tidball leads the team with a .176 opponent batting average and an average of 1.50 walks per nine innings.

Offense
Redshirt freshman Taylor Baum got his first career hit on Saturday at Miami (4/30) and followed it up with his first career home run against Towson on Wednesday (5/4) ... Chad Durakis leads the team with an 81.8% success rate scoring runners from third base with less than two outs (9 RBI in 11 opportunities) ... Will Frazier has 16 RBI and has been hit by six pitches in the last 14 games ... With a home run against Towson on Wednesday, his second in three games, Frazier moved into a tie for second place on the school's all-time list with 32 in his career ... Brian Jarosinski has walked five times and scored five runs in the last four games ... Matt Maropis has successfully stolen 11 straight bases and now leads the team with 14 on the season ... Maropis is hitting .378 (17-for-45) with 16 runs, five doubles and five walks in his last 11 games ... Truan Mehl is hitting .469 (30-for-64) in his last 13 games ... with four hits in the doubleheader against Towson, Mehl moved into a tie for 10th on Maryland's single season hits list with 78 ... Dan Melvin is expected to miss about two weeks with a foot injury ... freshman Joe Palumbo set a new career-high with four hits in the Sunday series finale at Miami (5/1), doubling his previous career-best of two hits ... Palumbo is tied for third on the team with 16 walks and a .379 on-base percentage this season ... In his last six games, Bobby Ryan has scored three runs, driven in three runs, sacrificed three times and walked four times ... Elliot Singletary leads the ACC and is tied for third in the nation in doubles per game (0.50/g) ... Singletary nearly has more doubles (22) than singles (23) this season ... Jason Von Behren has seven walks in his last 37 plate appearances after walking seven times in his first 124 plate appearances of the season ... Maryland is 12-4 when Jordan Wilson drives in a run and just 7-20 when he does not collect an RBI.

FLOOD GATES OPEN AGAINST TOWSON

After a tough 7-5 loss to Towson in the first game of a Wednesday doubleheader (5/4), the Maryland bats came alive in the team's most explosive game of the season. 10 different Terps had at least one hit, and 10 scored at least one run. Leadoff hitter Elliot Singletary was a catalyst to the Maryland outburst with two home runs, five RBI and three runs, and Matt Maropis set new career-highs with five hits and five runs scored.

In all, the Terrapins set new season-highs with 20 runs, 24 hits, eight doubles, four home runs and 12 extra-base hits. The Terps came within one hit of the school record of 25 in a game, done just once on April 6, 1992 in a 23-7 win over Howard.

MEHL-EVISION

Senior outfielder Truan Mehl, the team leader in most offensive categories, has been outstanding all season long for the Terrapins, and he has been especially good in Maryland's two television games. Led by a dominant 4-for-5 performance in the team's first TV game against Wake Forest (4/23), Mehl is a combined 5-for-9 with three runs, two RBI, two doubles and a stolen base when he's been on television this season.

STAFF APPRECIATION DAY

Looking to make up for being without starter Ben Pfinsgraff and combat prolific Miami starter Cesar Carrillo, Maryland went with a `staff day' to kick off its series with the Hurricanes. The Terps alternated lefties and righties, using a total of eight pitchers to keep the powerful Miami offense off balance.

Miami improved to 32-0 all-time when Carrillo starts, but it wasn't easy. The Terrapins got on the board in the first inning and kept the game close for nine innings, but ultimately, Carrillo and the Hurricanes pulled through to win 4-3. Maryland became the only team to come within a run of beating Miami when Carrillo starts and was a serious threat to Carrillo's perfect 22-0 career record.

Senior left-hander Josh Andrews made his second start of the season in the game and worked out of a bases-loaded jam with an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. Andrews managed to hold Miami scoreless in the first inning for just the 12th time in 43 games this season.

Miami got 11 hits in the game, but the staff approach did the job, preventing any big innings from the Hurricanes. Backed by Maryland's best defensive game of the season, Miami didn't score more than one run in any inning for just the fourth time all season and the second time in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

SHOWING MOORER POISE

Freshman right-hander Ryan Moorer continues to grow with every inning he pitches, and is getting the job done for the Terps of late. Over the weekend, he made appearances in back-to-back games against Miami. In Friday's series opener, he was the last of eight Terrapin pitchers to throw and was the only one to work a perfect inning against the Hurricanes. His velocity seemed to be as high as it has ever been, and his command was flawless, needing just 10 pitches (eight strikes) to work a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

He came back the next day and gave up two runs in three relief innings. He gave up just two hits, but a two-run homer by Danny Valencia spoiled an otherwise solid outing.

In his last three official appearances, Moorer has given up just four hits in 9.0 innings, picking up his first career win in a start against Coppin State (4/19). Prior to that, he gave up four hits and no earned runs in an exhibition game against the Bowie Baysox. If that game were included in the team's season stats, Moorer would be 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in his last four appearances.

JOE PA-LUMBER

Freshman Joe Palumbo went on the aggressive at the plate in the series finale at Miami (5/1), pulling out the heavy lumber and putting together a 4-for-5 day. He scored two runs and drove in two more on his way to doubling his previous career-high of two hits and tying a career-best with two RBI in a game. The four hits had a big impact on the freshman's batting average, too, raising it 42 points from .188 to .230.

TERPS A THREAT TO UPSET

The 2005 Terrapins continue to show improvement and have proven to be a legitimate threat to some of the conference's top teams. The team's two wins over top-five teams Georgia Tech (4/2) and Miami (5/1) have been well-documented, but Maryland has played teams tough all season long. Of the team's 20 conference losses this season, seven have come in one-run games, two in two-run games and two in three-run games.

Maryland is mathematically locked in for the ACC Tournament play-in round robin, meaning it will have to win two games for the right to play the conference's regular season champion. With six conference losses apiece, that opponent would most likely be Georgia Tech (18-6), Miami (17-6-1) or North Carolina (15-6-1). Maryland beat both Georgia Tech and Miami and lost two close games to North Carolina (3-5, 2-3).

MARYLAND SAYS FAREWELL TO KYLE GEORGE

First-year volunteer assistant Kyle George has been a valuable part of the Maryland coaching staff since taking the program's volunteer assistant position in the summer. A former standout shortstop and a 43rd round draft choice in 2003, George worked with infielders and was instrumental in drills and the team's pre-game warm-up routine.

George's last days with the team were at Miami, and the team capped his tenure off with its second win over a top-five team of the season. George now heads to spring training with the Elmira Pioneers of the Can-Am League for his third season in professional baseball.

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