May 5, 2006
Final Stats
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Down by as many as seven early on, the Maryland Terrapins (22-28, 8-20 ACC) stormed back with 11 unanswered runs against the Boston College Eagles to take the series opener, 11-10, on Friday afternoon at Shea Field. Matt Maropis went 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBI and Dan Melvin finished 3-for-6 including a homer and three RBI for Maryland, which recorded a season-high 17 hits.
Right-hander Brad Taylor (1-0) allowed one hit and struck out a season-best three batters in 3.1 shutout innings out of the bullpen to pick up his first career victory. In the ninth, senior Seth Overbey came on with two on and a four-run lead and held on for his second save. Boston College's Kevin Boggan (4-2) was hammered for seven runs on six hits in two thirds of an inning en route to the loss. He entered with a three-run lead and exited with his team down, 11-7.
At the plate, first baseman Gerry Spessard, catcher Chad Durakis, designated hitter Jordan Wilson and third baseman Mike Murphy all went 2-for-5, combining for two runs and four RBI. Over the last two games, the Terp offense has erupted for 23 runs, 32 hits and four homers.
After scoring an unearned run against starter Casey Baron in the first, the Eagles pushed their lead to three in the second. With a man on first, third baseman Eric Campbell smacked an RBI double to left-center and then came in on a sacrifice bunt by Pete Frates, bringing the score to 3-0.
A two-run homer by Jared McGuire in the third made it 5-0, Eagles as Baron's day would come to end after two-plus innings on the mound.
BC scored twice more in the bottom of the fourth before Maryland pushed four runs across in the fifth to make it a 7-4 contest. Following a walk by Steve Braun, Maropis put the Terps on the board with an RBI double down the right field line. Melvin then stepped up and delivered his team-leading fifth home run of the year off right-hander Dan Houston to cut the deficit to 7-3. Spessard then doubled and scored on a Wilson base hit to cap the four-run Terp inning.
With Taylor keeping the Eagle offense at bay, Maryland scored seven runs in the top of the eighth to take its first lead of the day. Braun led off with a walk and scooted to third on a single by pinch hitter Joe Palumbo. Maropis drove in one on a base hit to and Melvin made it a one-run game after an RBI double to left off of Boggan. After Durakis put the Terps ahead on a two-run double to right, Wilson made it a 9-7 game on an RBI base hit to center. Dan Benick capped the barrage with a two-run shot over the wall in left to give Maryland a four-run advantage.
BC threatened to tie things up in the bottom of the ninth but the bullpen prevailed. Ryne Reynoso led off with a double against lefty Brett Tidball and, after moving to third on a Dave Preziosi single, came home on a wild pitch by Overbey. Campbell hit a two-out, two-run single to shrink the Maryland lead to one. But Overbey got centerfielder Pete Frates to groundout to ensure the victory.
The teams will play Saturday afternoon at Campanelli Stadium in Brockton, Mass. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be aired live on Fox SportsNet South.
