Maryland Faces Liberty In Mid-Week Series
3/14/2011 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 14, 2011
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland baseball team returns to the friendly confines of Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium for a seven-game homestand that opens with a pair of 4 p.m. matchups against Liberty on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Terps, 8-7 overall, went 7-1 in their first homestand of the season while winning both of their mid-week games. The pitching staff owns a 2.01 ERA in home contests and will look to junior right-handers Michael Boyden and Chuck Ghysels to pick up where they left off.
Boyden has a 3.48 ERA in six appearances and will make his second start on Tuesday. In his last four appearances - all in relief - Boyden has allowed just one run on seven hits. His lone start came against Navy on Feb. 23, when he went four innings, struck out four and gave up one run in a win.
Ghysels has pitched in seven of Maryland's 15 games and gets the nod for Wednesday in what will also be his second start. Over his last four outings Ghysels has not allowed a run, including three scoreless innings in a start against Delaware on March 8. For the season his ERA is 4.50, though he has surrendered just one run in his last 8 2/3 innings.
The Maryland offense will look to rebound from a weekend series at No. 25 Georgia Tech in which it scored just five runs. At home the Terrapins are batting .290 as a team, 41 points higher than their season average.
Liberty, a member of the Big South Conference, was picked to finish second behind Coastal Carolina in its preseason coaches poll. The Flames set a school record for wins in a season in 2010 by going 42-19. Five starters and 14 lettermen return from that team.
This season Liberty is 8-8 and has won four of its last five, including wins over Rutgers, Monmouth and East Carolina in the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C., over the weekend.
Juniors Matt Williams (SS) and Tyler Bream (3B) were 2010 All-Big South selections and lead Liberty in hitting at .409 and .361, respectively. In addition to batting average, Williams leads the team in runs (14), doubles (6) and triples (2). Senior first baseman/outfielder Doug Bream is third on the team with a .313 batting average.
The Flames will also start a pair of junior right-handers in Jacob Kemmerer and Patrick Eckelbarger. Kemmerer, who will start on Tuesday, is 0-0 with a 1.17 ERA in three appearances. Eckelbarger is 1-1 with a 7.27 ERA in five appearances.
Following the two-game series with Liberty, Maryland opens its home portion of the Atlantic Coast Conference slate with a three-game series against Boston College Friday through Sunday. Tickets for conference games can be purchased on a season and single-game basis by clicking here or calling 1-800-IMA-TERP. All non-conference games are free of charge.
