Feb. 18, 2010

Games Notes (PDF)

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Maryland opens the 2010 season Friday night in the first of a three-game series against Florida International. The Terps battle the Golden Panthers Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at noon. Live stats for the games can be found here.

Let the Bakich era begin...
• Maryland's series against Florida International marks the much anticipated head-coaching debut of Erik Bakich. An assistant coach/recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt for the past seven seasons, Bakich brings a unique, agressive and exciting style of baseball to College Park.
• Known as one of the best recruiters in all of college baseball, Bakich and his staff wasted no time in making an impact on the recruiting trail. In November, the Terps signed their first nine recruits under Bakich, securing the top-two ranked players in Maryland and four other prep recruits ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in their respective states. Maryland also added two junior college transfers who will be expected to contribute immediately in 2011.
• Bakich's blue-collar style has garnered praise from baseball insiders around the country as he attemps to turn the tide of a program he deemed a "sleeping giant."
• "Will beats skill every single time," Bakich recently said. "We are going to be out-skilled on paper when you line up our roster next to the so-called juggernauts of college baseball in our conference. But nobody has out-trained us, nobody has out-worked us, nobody will out-hustle us and no one will out-will us."
• The Terps are looking to end an eight-game losing streak in season openers. Overall, Maryland is 45-40-1 all-time in season openers, but the Terps have dropped 12 of their previous 13 openers.

Tracking the Terrapins...
• The Terps return the majority of their pitching from 2009, including strikeout leader Brett Harman, ERA leader and closer Dan Gentzler, as well as rising pitchers Eric Potter, Sander Beck and Adam Kolarek.
• Maryland will have to replace the majority of their offensive production, as A.J. Casario, Mike Murphy and Will Greenberg, who were three of the top four leaders in batting average, have graduated or moved on to the professional ranks.
• David Poutier (.321/47 runs/29 RBI) and Alfredo Rodriguez (.252/21 runs/12 RBI) are Maryland's lone returning starters.
• Tyler Bennett, Matthew Murakami and Mike Rozak are other returnees with starting experience.

About the Golden Panthers...
• Florida International is coming off a solid 2009 season that saw the Golden Panthers go 34-23, including an 18-12 mark in the Sun Belt Conference.
• SEBaseball.com ranked FIU No. 26 in its Southeastern 80 poll with the designation of being one of the suprise teams in 2009 ready to break out in 2010. The website also ranked FIU at No. 3 behind Coastal Carolina and Louisville in its rankings of top 25 teams outside the SEC, ACC and Conference USA.
• The Golden Panthers return seven starting position players and four starting pitchers from 2009.

SERIES HISTORY:
This will mark the first meeting between the two schools.

From club baseball to Terps' closer...
• Relief pitcher Dan Gentzler has evolved into one of the top relievers in the ACC after walking on to the team in 2008 after previously playing club baseball at Maryland. Gentzler led the team last season with a 3.13 ERA and had a team-high seven saves, the third most in a single season in school history. The senior made a team-high 28 appearances in 2009 while holding batters to a .250 clip.

Beck shines in summer league...
• Sander Beck, who was 2-0 with 43 strikeouts compared to just 14 walks as a freshman in 2009, had a productive summer pitching in the Cal Ripken, Sr., Collegiate Baseball League. Beck, now a sophomore, was named the league's co-most outstanding pitcher after tallying a 1.56 ERA with Youse's Orioles. He pitched a team-high 40 1/3 innings on his way to a 6-1 record, striking out 28 batters, while holding opponents to a .192 batting average.

Power deficit...
• Maryland's biggest question mark entering 2010 is offensive production. Mike Murphy, who batted .318 with a team-high 12 HRs and a team-best .606 slugging percentage, was lost to graduation. Murphy ranks in the top 5 of nine different career batting records (398 total bases, 2nd; 91 extra-base hits, 2nd; 145 RBI, 3rd; 795 at-bats, 3rd; 56 doubles, third; 32 HRs, t-3rd; 150 runs, t-4th; 240 hits, 4th; 90 walks, t-5th).
• Overall, Maryland has to replace 65 percent of its run production and 66 percent of its RBI from 2009.

Pitching surplus...
• Maryland will rely on pitching and defense early in the season. The Terps return 11 pitchers that accounted for 350 of 469 innings pitched in 2009. (.746 percent). Harman, who led the team with a 3.75 K/BB ratio in 2009, returns and will serve as the No. 1 starter. Potter, a 6-foot-3 lefty from Crofton, Md., made great progess as a sophomore, going 2-2 in 17 appearances (seven starts), and will serve as the No. 2 starter. Beck and Kolarek, a junior, are expected to battle for the final weekend starting job.
• The Terps ranked fifth in the ACC with a .968 fielding percentage last season, and return three players with starting experince in the infield. Rodriguez started 40 games at shortstop last season and will be the stalwart at that position. Murakami played in 34 games with 15 starts last season and will take over at second base. Poutier slides over from second base to third base to replace the departed Mike Murphy.

Taking over in the outfield...
• Maryland will have an all new outfield as Gerry Spessard and Dan Benick graduated, while Casario moved on to the professional ranks. Brandon Padula, a transfer from West Virginia, will take over in left field. Mike Rozak, a senior, will step in at center field, while freshman Jon Wilson will play right field. Redshirt freshman Jack Cleary earned the job at catcher after sophomore Tyler Bennett suffered an injury. Cleary will likely be backed up by freshman Zach Fisher and junior Tom Bailey.