March 1, 2006

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COLLEGE PARK, MD. - Nick Jowers hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth to lift Maryland to a 5-4 victory over George Washington in the Terrapins' home opener on Wednesday afternoon. The Terps (4-6) fought back after falling behind early for their third consecutive come-from-behind victory.

Batting with the scored tied and none down, Jowers faced the Colonials' Tim Sexton, who had just come on in relief of starter Derrik Lutz. After working the count to 3-1, the sophomore saw a fastball over the plate from the right-hander and blasted it over the centerfield fence at Shipley Field for his first career home run. It marks the third straight game that Jowers has either scored or driven in the winning run for the Terps.

Brett Cecil (2-1) was credited with the win for the Terps after coming on in the top of the ninth. Entering with a man on and none down, Cecil overcame a potentially costly error to preserve the lead. After Andrew Abokhair advanced to second on a sac bunt, Cecil attempted a pick off. But the throw went into centerfield and Abokhair sprinted to third with just one away. Cecil struck out the next batter and then got the third out of the inning on a check swing groundout to catcher Chad Durakis to keep the score knotted at four.

For GW, Lutz threw eight innings and allowed four runs, only one of which was earned. He struck out six and surrendered six hits but did not factor into the decision.

The Colonials opened the scoring in the top of the second. Abokhair singled to left, then moved to third on a groundout to the third baseman. Next up for GW was rightfielder Gavin Swanson, who knocked his catcher in on a single to leftfield to make it 1-0, Colonials.

George Wahington tacked on two more in the third on a home run and back-to-back doubles. With one away, leadoff hitter Michael Parker homered to left off starter John Dischert. After the next batter popped out, Tom Shanley doubled and then scored on double by Mickey Shupin to put GW ahead, 4-0.

But Maryland fought back, scoring one in the fourth and three in the fifth to even the score. With one away in the bottom of the fourth, first baseman Gerry Spessard reached on a fielder's choice and made it to second on a throwing error by the second baseman. The redshirt-freshman moved to third on a groundout by Durakis and then scored on a throwing error by the shortstop that allowed designated hitter Matt Maropis to reach with two outs.

In their next at-bat, the Terps added three more. Shortstop Steve Braun led off with a double, then scored on a double down the leftfield line by rightfielder Dan Benick with one away to make it 4-2. Benick advanced to third on a wild pitch, then alertly took home when the ball bounced away after a throw down to third, cutting the deficit to one. After a single by Dan Melvin, Spessard tripled off the wall in right to bring home the runner and tie the game up at four

The Terps are now 4-1 in one-run games this season. They will travel to Durham, N.C. this weekend where they open up Atlantic Coast Conference play with a three-game set against Duke.