Feb. 21, 2009
Box Score
WILMINGTON, N.C. -
Third baseman Mike Murphy hit his first home run of the season and drove in two runs Saturday at UNC Wilmington, but the University of Maryland baseball team dropped a 7-5 game to the Seahawks in game two of the series.
Maryland took an early lead in the game with a single run in the top of the first inning against Seahawks starting pitcher Seth Frankoff. Second baseman David Poutier led off the game with a line-drive double to right field and Murphy scored him two batters later with a single up the middle.
Murphy drove in another run in the top of the third inning, crushing a solo home run to left-center off Frankoff. The Terps were not done in the inning however. With runners on first and third with two outs, Maryland got some clutch, two-out hitting. Left fielder Gerry Spessard rolled a single through the right side of the infield to plate Will Greenberg. Spessard stole second base to put two men in scoring position for No. 8 hitter Dan Benick. Benick then added to the lead with a looping single into right-center field to plate A.J. Casario and Spessard to put the Terps up 5-0.
Unfortunately for the Terps, they could not push across another run in the final six innings as the Seahawks fought back for the victory.
Despite pitching with a five-run cushion, Maryland starter Eric Potter struggled with his control. Potter walked two guys and hit a batter to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the third. Potter then walked a fourth batter in the inning to score a run and was pulled for Scott Swinson.
Swinson nearly escaped the jam with only one run scoring, as he fanned David Shambley and Alex Hill. However, Swinson then walked Rhett Miller to score the second run of the inning and hit Mike Rooney to plate a third run before escaping the inning.
The Seahawks completely erased the deficit and pulled ahead for the first time with a pair of two-out hits in the bottom of the fourth. Grayson Evans plated a run with an RBI double and Alex Hill put Wilmington ahead, 6-5, with a bloop single to right field.
Wilmington added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning via small ball. Shortstop Mike Rooney legged out a one-out infield single and then stole second and third base on consecutive pitches. Pinch hitter Ryan Foreman followed with a soft single to center field over the drawn-in infield. The Seahawks threatened to add more runs in the inning, but reliever John Dischert escaped a two-on-one-out jam with an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
Swinson took the loss for Maryland while Ryan Walker earned the win. Tyler McSwain earned a save.
Maryland will try to salvage the final game of the series at 1 p.m. Sunday. Junior Ian Schwalenberg will toe the rubber for the Terps and will face Jesse Haney for the Seahawks.
-TERPS-
