Terps Play Host To George Washington, St. John's
3/21/2011 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 21, 2011
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The University of Maryland baseball team will close out a seven-game homestand by playing host to George Washington on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and St. John's on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium.
The Terps, who split two games with Liberty last week and took one of three from Boston College over the weekend, will look for a pair of wins to ensure their second winning homestand of the season.
Pitching and defense have been consistently good throughout the season for Maryland, which is 10-10 overall with an 8-2 record in non-conference home games. Relievers Korey Wacker and Charlie Haslup have been particularly impressive; Wacker has emerged as the closer and hasn't allowed a base-runner in his four appearances in the ninth inning. Haslup has taken on the role of setup man and is holding opponents to a .103 batting average.
Though the Terps uncharacteristically committed five errors over the weekend, they have just 15 on the season and are third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in fielding percentage (.980). Right fielder Charlie White helped preserve a 4-3 win over Boston College on Saturday by making a leaping catch at the wall, then throwing to first to put out a runner for an inning-ending double play.
Second baseman Ryan Holland, who ranks 15th in the ACC with a .361 batting average, has been a bright spot offensively. Holland went 8 for 18 (.444) with a homer, five runs and five RBI last week. Though the Terps had a season-high 14 hits in a 10-5 win over Liberty last Wednesday, the offense as a whole struggled to produce with just 17 hits over the weekend.
Maryland has played teams from six different conferences thus far and will add games against an Atlantic 10 and Big East opponent this week.
George Washington is 6-14 after being swept at home last weekend by Marist. The Colonials were picked to finish eighth in the 13-team Atlantic 10 in a preseason coaches poll. Junior infielder Brett Bowers leads the team in hitting at .355 and also has seven stolen bases. Bowers is one of five Colonials batting above the .300 mark.
St. John's was ranked No. 23 in Baseball America's preseason top 25 and was picked to finish second in the Big East behind Connecticut. The Red Storm returned 20 letterwinners from their 2010 squad that won the Big East tournament crown and made a NCAA Tournament appearance.
After a 5-8 start that saw the Red Storm play every game away from home, it has won four straight to improve to 9-8. St. John's ranks first in the Big East in fielding percentage (.979), fifth in batting average (.282) and 11th in ERA (5.11).
Joe Panik, a junior shortstop, ranks third in the conference with a .418 batting average and is second with a .547 on-base percentage. Freshman outfielder Kevin Grove is second on the team with a .357 batting average and sophomore outfielder Jeremy Baltz is hitting .317 with 23 RBI, which is second in the conference.
Pitching matchups for the two games have yet to be determined.
