Feb. 27, 2009
Box Score
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Down one run with two men on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, David Poutier saved the day for the University of Maryland baseball team, lacing a game-winning, two-run double to right-center field Friday evening to complete an 11-10, come-from-behind victory against the visiting Quinnipiac Bobcats.
Although Poutier received the hero's welcome after the winning run scored, Maryland's ninth-inning rally was all about teamwork and hustle. Freshman Taylor Buran led off with a sharp single through the left side of the infield and was sacrificed to second on a Dan Benick bunt. After Matthew Murakami struck out, Quinnipiac reliever Joe Duffy appeared to have finished off the Terps as he got A.J. Casario to hit a weak, check-swing nibbler down the third-base line.
However, Casario hustled to first and beat Bryn Doyle's throw to keep Maryland (2-4) alive. After a first-pitch strike, Poutier took a pitch on the outer half of the plate and delivered it perfectly into the right-center field gap. Buran came across for the tying run and the ball got all the way to the warning track and gave center fielder Ben Farina some trouble.
Head coach Terry Rupp waved the speedy Casario all the way home and Casario safely slid, head first, into home plate to cap the Terps' victory.
The game was filled with big rallies from both teams.
The Bobcats (0-1) took an early 1-0 lead, but then the Terps re-gained control and seemed to be cruising to a big victory.
Third baseman Mike Murphy crushed a two-out, three-run home run off Quinnipiac starter Chris Gloor in the bottom of the third inning. The Terps added three more in the fourth via a wild pitch, Jensen Pupa RBI single and an RBI double by Murphy.
Murphy's double moved him into a tie for 10th place on the school's all-time list and his four RBIs tied a career high.
With a 6-1 lead, Maryland starter Ian Schwalenberg looked comfortable on the mound, but struggled to get the final out of the fifth inning, as the Bobcats scored three runs with two outs to cut their deficit to 6-4.
Quinnipiac proceeded to tack on four runs in the top of the sixth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by catcher Mike Marmo to put the Bobcats up, 8-6.
The Terrapins evened the score in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to a pair of clutch, two-out doubles. Benick doubled off the wall to center field and sophomore Curtis Lazar followed with a pinch-hit double to right-center field to tie the game at 8-8.
Unfortunately for the Terps, Quinnipiac took advantage of a couple fielding miscues in the top of the eighth and got those two runs right back to lead, 10-8. However, coming out of the bullpen with the bases loaded and no outs, closer Dan Gentzler limited the Bobcats to just the two runs, keeping the Terps close.
Pupa cut the deficit to one on a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, setting the stage for the ninth-inning rally.
Starting catcher Mike Moss led the Terps with three hits, the first three-hit game of his career. Benick also delivered three hits for the Terps.
Farina and Marmo had three hits apiece for Quinnipiac.
Gentzler earned the win for Maryland, pitching two innings, allowing two hits and striking out two batters. Duffy took the loss for the Bobcats.
The Terps and Bobcats will play a doubleheader Saturday, with the first game beginning at 11 a.m. The second game, which is replacing Sunday's originally-scheduled game, will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game No. 1.
-TERPS-
