April 28, 2011
Game Notes (PDF)
Season Stats (PDF)
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Maryland (19-25, 4-17) at NC State (24-18, 9-12)
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday (6:30 p.m.): RHP David Carroll (5-4, 3.84) vs. RHP Cory Mazzoni (3-5, 4.11)
Saturday (6:30 p.m.): RHP Brady Kirkpatrick (2-2, 4.79) vs. RHP Rob Chamra (6-0, 3.55)
Sunday (1 p.m.): TBA vs. LHP Grant Sasser (1-3, 3.29)
Storyline...
• Maryland travels to NC State to open a road stretch that sees them home just once in the next 20 days. The Terps have a home-and-home with Towson May 3-4, travel to North Carolina for a three-game set May 6-8, visit Delaware on May 10 and then break for finals before hosting Wake Forest May 19-21 in the regular season finale.
• Pitching led the way to a pair of mid-week victories over Saint Joseph's and George Mason, with the Terps holding each team to just three hits. It marked the first time Maryland held its opponent to three hits or less in back-to-back outings since March 5, 2002, when the Terps held UMES to two hits, then three hits in a doubleheader. In Tuesday's win, Charlie Haslup, Jeff Crosswhite, Jimmy Reed and Jake Stinnett combined for 11 strikeouts and kept the Hawks hitless over the final six innings. On Wednesday Chuck Ghysels turned in the best performance of his Maryland career, holding Mason to two hits in seven innings, while Michael Boyden and Korey Wacker pitched an inning each to finish it out.
• While freshman Charlie White has been one of Maryland's better hitters all year, he has turned it up a notch as of late. The leadoff batter, White carries a seven-game hitting streak into the weekend and has hit safely in 12 of the last 13 games. The Naperville, Ill., native is also 16-for-17 on steals this year. Freshman Austin Kilbourne and junior Alfredo Rodriguez have also been swinging hot bats, as Kilbourne is hitting .345 and Rodriguez .333 in the month of April.
• Junior David Carroll and freshman Brady Kirkpatrick will form the first two legs of Maryland's weekend rotation for the third straight week. Sunday's starter is yet to be determined.
Follow the Terps Online
• Video of the series can be viewed live over the Internet at gopack.com with a $9.95 subscription. Live stats will be available at umterps.com. Follow the Terps on Twitter at twitter.com/umterps.
About the Wolfpack...
• NC State is 24-18 overall and 9-12 in the ACC after winning one of three games at No. 1 Virginia last weekend. Prior to that the Pack swept a home series with then-No. 7 North Carolina April 15-17, winning a pair of one-run games before dominating the finale 10-2. NC State has an 18-6 record at home this year.
• NC State ranks seventh in the conference in both team hitting (.280) and pitching (4.39 ERA). Catcher Pratt Maynard's .341 batting average leads the team and ranks 13th in the ACC, while shortstop Chris Diaz isn't far behind with a .338 batting average that is 14th best in the league. Third baseman Andrew Ciencin has a team-best five home runs while contributing 28 RBI, just behind team leaders Maynard and second baseman Matt Bergquist, who have 30 each. The Pack has recorded 10 or more hits in five of its last seven games.
• On the mound, right-handers Cory Mazzoni and Rob Chamra, along with lefty Grant Sasser, form the weekend rotation. A junior, Mazzoni (3-5, 4.11) ranks fourth in the ACC with 76 strikeouts. All 10 of his appearances are starts and in 70 innings he has allowed 36 runs (32 earned) on 61 hits and 22 walks. Chamra (6-0, 3.55), a senior, has made four starts and 11 total appearances this season. In 38 innings he has allowed 17 runs, 15 of them earned, on 35 hits and 16 walks while striking out 27. Sasser (1-3, 3.29), the lefty in the group, is also a junior. In 13 appearances (three starts) spanning 27 1/3 innings, Sasser has allowed 15 runs, 10 of them earned, on 34 hits and 11 walks while striking out 22.
SERIES HISTORY: NC State leads Maryland in the all-time series, 97-52-1. The Wolfpack swept the three-game series in College Park last season, while the Terps took two of three in Raleigh in 2009.
Quick Hits...
• Against Miami on 4/17, freshman Austin Kilbourne became the first Terp to record at least five RBI in a game since Tyler Bennett had eight on May 9, 2009.
• Against James Madison on 4/13, the Terps hit three home runs for the first time since Feb. 27, 2010, when they did it against Delaware.
• Against West Virginia on 4/5, Jake Stinnett became the first Terp to homer twice in a game since Tyler Bennett had three round-trippers against Wake Forest on May 9, 2009.
• The Terps had at least 10 hits against FSU on 4/2 and 4/3, and West Virginia on 4/5; they last did that in March of 2010, when they had 12 against Hofstra, 10 against Hofstra and 14 against Virginia Tech.
• Alfredo Rodriguez is tied for fifth in school history with 44 career steals. He needs four more to pass Chris Cannan (1991-94) and Mark Poehlman (1977-80), who both had 47, for fourth place.
• Rodriguez has started 109 straight games at shortstop. The last time he didn't start was April 28, 2009.
• Maryland is 13-1 when holding its opponent to two runs or less, but just 6-24 when the opponent scores three or more runs.
• The Terps have a 4-4 record in doubleheaders this year. They split with No. 6 Texas and Miami, swept Canisius and were swept by No. 3 Virginia.
• Maryland's four shutouts this season are the most since it had five in 2007.
