March 24, 2011
Game Notes (PDF)
Season Stats (PDF)
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Maryland (11-10, 1-5) at No. 3 Virginia (21-2, 5-1)
Schedule Change: Maryland and Virginia will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. due to the threat of snow on Sunday.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday (6 p.m.): TBA vs. LHP Danny Hultzen (4-0, 1.05)
Saturday (1 p.m.): RHP David Carroll (4-1, 2.84) vs. RHP Tyler Wilson (3-0, 2.54)
Saturday (TBA): LHP Eric Potter (2-2, 3.13) vs. RHP Cody Winiarski (2-1, 3.76)
Storyline...
• Maryland begins a demanding stretch of conference play with a series at No. 3 Virginia. The Terps follow that with a home series against No. 7 Florida State and a trip to No. 19 Clemson before returning home to face Miami, which is unranked but atop the Atlantic Coast Conference standings at 6-0.
• RHP David Carroll earned his fourth win of the season with a solid Saturday start in which he allowed just one earned run and struck out a season-high six in seven innings. LHP Eric Potter kept BC hitless through six innings on Sunday, the second time he has done that this season (also vs. Canisius, 3/5). Carroll's 2.84 ERA ranks 20th in the ACC and Potter is holding opponents to a .181 batting average, which ranks eighth in the conference. Both will be counted on to turn in similar performances as Virginia leads the league in ERA (2.08). Maryland's Friday-night starter is TBA.
• Ryan Holland and Charlie White have paced the offense. Holland ranks 11th in the ACC in batting average (.359) while White (.328) has settled into the leadoff spot and is 8 of 8 on steals. Maryland had a season-high 14 hits in a 10-5 win over Liberty on March 16, but had just 17 in its three games vs. BC. The Terps had eight runs on eight hits in Tuesday's win over GW.
• Despite committing five errors over the weekend, the defense ranks among the best in the conference. Maryland is third with a .981 fielding percentage, having made 15 errors on the year. White made a leaping catch at the wall in the 8th inning vs. BC on Saturday that preserved a 4-3 win.
Follow the Terps Online
• Video of all three games will be streamed live over the internet at VirginiaSports.com. A subscription for the weekend series is 14.95. Fans can follow live stats through www.umterps.com and get updates via twitter at www.twitter.com/UMTerps. There will be a live, interactive blog at umterps.com for game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader.
About the Cavaliers...
• The third-ranked team in the nation, Virginia is 21-2 with a 5-1 mark in conference play after sweeping a series at then-No. 10 Clemson March 11-13 and taking two of three from then-No. 6 Florida State at home last weekend. Virginia's only other loss came on Feb. 27 to East Carolina.
• The Cavalier pitching staff leads the conference with a 2.08 ERA and has shutout its opponent seven times this season. It also leads the league with 252 strikeouts. LHP Danny Hultzen is 4-0 with a 1.05 ERA and 62 strikeouts to just four walks. The 2010 ACC Pitcher of the Year is holding opponents to a .161 batting average. Hultzen also plays first base and outfield and is hitting .316. RHP Tyler Wilson, the Saturday starter, is tied for sixth in the league in strikeouts (34) and sophomore closer Brandon Kline leads the conference with eight saves.
• John Hicks, a junior C/1B/OF, is fourth in the ACC with a .404 batting average, and as a team Virginia has a .300 batting average, which is fifth-best in the conference. Infielders Chris Taylor and Steven Proscia are also hitting above .300.
SERIES HISTORY: Maryland trails the all-time series with Virginia, 74-94-1. The Terps were swept by the Cavaliers in College Park last season and have lost 23 of the last 24.
Quick Hits...
• Maryland and Georgia Tech are the only schools with two pitchers that rank in the ACCs top 10 in innings pitched. David Carroll (Las Vegas, Nev./Western Nevada) and Eric Potter (Crofton, Md./Arundel HS) are tied for eighth with 31.2.
• Ryan Holland (John's Creek, Ga./Chattahoochee Valley CC) ranks 11th in the conference in batting average (.359) and his .461 on-base percentage is just two points outside the top 10.
• Brady Kirkpatrick (Eugene, Ore./Marist HS) leads the team with 12.94 strikeouts per 9 innings. The freshman struck out five, including fanning the side in the ninth, in two perfect innings against Canisius on March 5; he struck out four of the six batters he faced in another two perfect innings at No. 25 Georgia Tech on March 11; and on Tuesday against GW he again struck out five while allowing one hit in two innings of work.
• Maryland is coming off a season in which it stole a school-record 123 bases. This season the Terps aren't quite on that pace, but still rank second as a team in stolen bases with 38, behind only Duke with 40. Charlie White's (Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) eight steals rank third in the conference and the freshman has yet to be caught stealing. Korey Wacker (Harker Heights, Texas/Temple College) has seven and Alfredo Rodriguez (Oak Hill, Va./Oakton HS) has six.
• Freshmen Kyle Convissar and Alex Ramsay, who both went to Severna Park HS and were the top-2 ranked players in the state of Maryland, have seen increased playing time of late. A catcher, Ramsay has four hits in his last six at-bats and has three starts in the last five games. Convissar primarily plays 3B and has started three of the last four games. He has hit safely in the last three.
