Baseball Faces George Mason, UMBC in Midweek Play
3/23/2009 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 23, 2009
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland baseball team faces a pair of local rivals in midweek action this week, beginning with a tough test Tuesday at George Mason and finishing with a home game Wednesday against UMBC.
The Terrapins (10-11, 3-6 ACC) have a difficult challenge to get back to .500 at 3 p.m. Tuesday at George Mason. The Patriots are 16-4 overall and have won 12 of their last 13 games. The Patriots are unbeaten at home this year, winning all nine games at Spuhler Field and, going back to last season, have won 14 straight games on their home turf.
Maryland is 19-19 all-time against the Patriots, including two wins last year.
Senior Brett Jones will start on the mound for Maryland. Jones is 0-0 with a 6.38 ERA in 18 1/3 innings pitched. It will be Jones' first start of the season and fifth of his career. Jones will oppose freshman Kevin Lingerman of the Patriots. Lingerman is 0-0 in four appearances with a 1.35 ERA.
Offensively, George Mason is hitting .298 as a team, led by CAA Player of the Week Chris Henderson. Henderson hit for the cycle last weekend and is batting .442 with five home runs, 18 RBIs and a .779 slugging percentage. Scott Krieger is hitting .321 with a team-high seven home runs and 22 RBIs.
The Terps return to Shipley Field Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game with the UMBC Retrievers.
UMBC is currently 4-8 on the season. Shawn Retz paces the Retrievers' offense, leading the team in batting average (.479), home runs (5), RBIs (17) and slugging percentage (.896).
The Retrievers will send Marty Zawacki to the mound to face either Brett Harman or Sander Beck for the Terps. Zawacki is 1-0 in two appearances with a 3.52 ERA.
Maryland is 31-13-1 all-time against UMBC and the Terps have won the last four meetings between the schools.
The Terps are 8-2 at home this season and 2-9 away from Shipley Field.
Live radio coverage of both games will be available on the Internet at WMUCSports.com.
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