March 7, 2011
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland baseball team will cap an eight-game homestand with a 3 p.m. tilt against Delaware on Tuesday at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium.
The Terps, 7-4 overall this season, have won six of the past seven games due to excellent pitching and defense. In the six wins Maryland's pitching staff has accumulated a 1.86 ERA and held opponents to a .170 batting average. Terrapin pitchers also have 61 strikeouts to 29 walks in those games.
Defensively, Maryland has committed just seven errors this season, the second-fewest in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and its .983 fielding percentage ranks second in the league behind only Virginia (.994).
Though the Terps are hitting just .257 on the season, several bats have warmed up of late. Second baseman Ryan Holland has nine hits in his late 20 at-bats and six other Terps are hitting above .300 in the current homestand: freshman outfielder Charlie White (.429), senior first baseman/designated hitter Curtis Lazar (.400), sophomore catcher Jack Cleary (.375), junior outfielder/designated hitter Brandon Padula (.353) and junior outfielders Matt Marquis (.333) and Korey Wacker (.308).
On the year, Holland is batting a team-high .393 with a .528 on-base percentage which is seventh-best in the ACC.
Junior right-hander Chuck Ghysels is expected to make his first start of the season on Tuesday after pitching in five games out of the bullpen. A transfer from Lincoln Trail College, Ghysels gave up five runs in 1 1/3 innings at No. 6 Texas (Feb. 19) in his first appearance but has since allowed just one run in his last four outings.
Delaware enters Tuesday's game with a 3-8 record and was picked to finish eighth in the 11-team Colonial Athletic Association in a preseason poll.
Dan Gatto, a freshman right-hander, will make the start for the Blue Hens. Gatto has made two appearances this season, one of them a start, and has a 3.60 ERA.
Senior third baseman/outfielder Pat Dameron leads the team in hitting with a .405 clip, while sophomore second baseman D.J. Long (.304) and junior infielder Logan Gallagher (.300) are also at or above .300. Delaware as a team is batting .239.
It will be Maryland's final contest before opening ACC play this weekend with a three-game series at Georgia Tech.
