March 21, 2008
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Mike Murphy continued his hot hitting and Scott Swinson gritted out eight solid innings on the mound as the Terrapins' baseball team knocked off the third-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, 4-2, Friday night at Shipley Field. It was Maryland's first win against a top-five team since April 2, 2006 when it beat then-No. 3 Georgia Tech.
Murphy (Silver Spring, Md./Georgetown Prep) homered for the third consecutive game, a two-run shot to center field in the bottom of the fifth inning to give him a team-high six on the year, a career high. Murphy also doubled in the game to raise his average to .329 on the season.
After a complete-game victory at Wake Forest last Friday, Swinson (Ellicott City, Md./George Washington University) lasted eight innings against Carolina, allowing two runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts.
The game was scoreless through 4 ½ innings with Swinson and Tar Heel Preseason All-American Alex White in control on the mound.
Maryland (11-9, 2-5 ACC) broke through in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a key error by White. Center fielder Nick Jowers (Beltsville, Md./DeMatha Catholic) led off with a double down the right-field line. Shortstop Joe Palumbo (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) attempted to sacrifice Jowers to third with a bunt. White fielded the bunt and appeared to have a play on Jowers at third, but White's throw was off to the right and eluded third baseman Chad Flack, allowing Jowers to score and Palumbo to get to second.
Palumbo then advance to third on a wild pitch. However, it appeared White might escape the jam with only the one run scoring. Steve Braun (Granada Hills, Calif./Pierce CC) struck out and Will Greenberg (Gaithersburg, Md./Washington College) flied out to shallow left. With two men down, Murphy muscled a two-run homer to center field for a 3-0 Terps lead.
All three runs in the inning were unearned.
The Tar Heels (16-4, 5-2 ACC) answered back with two runs in the top of the sixth on a solo home run by Preseason All-American Tim Federowicz and an RBI single by Seth Williams. Swinson minimized the damage, though, getting Mark Fleury to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Maryland got one back in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Jowers.
Swinson fought through a couple jams in the seventh and eighth innings.
With two outs in the top of the eighth and a man on first base, Williams doubled down the left-field line, but a quick reaction by Terps left fielder Gerry Spessard (Hagerstown, Md./Smithsburg) prevented any runs from scoring on the play. Swinson again got Fleury to end an inning with a fly ball to center field.
With the Terps still up 4-2 entering the top of the ninth, head coach Terry Rupp brought in freshman closer Matt Quinn (North Wales, Pa./North Penn). Flack led off the inning with a sharp double down the left-field line, bringing the tying run to the plate. Flack never advanced past third as Quinn retired the next three batters in order for his third save of the season.
The Terps and Tar Heels play game two of the series at 4 p.m. tomorrow. Ian Schwalenberg (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) will start for Maryland and face Adam Warren.
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