April 7, 2011
Game Notes (PDF)
Season Stats (PDF)
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Maryland (14-15, 2-10) at Clemson (16-12, 4-8)
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday (6:30 p.m.): RHP David Carroll (5-1, 2.15) vs. RHP Dominic Leone (0-1, 5.54)
Saturday (7 p.m.): LHP Eric Potter (2-3, 4.25) vs. RHP Scott Firth (2-0, 3.55)
Sunday (1 p.m.): Matchup yet to be determined
Storyline...
• Maryland hits the mid-point of the Atlantic Coast Conference slate with a three-game series at Clemson this weekend. Last Saturday the Terrapins snapped a 40-game losing streak to Florida State with a 5-0 win, but dropped the Friday and Sunday games to the No. 7 Seminoles. On Tuesday, Jake Stinnett homered twice and Aaron Etchison, Austin Kilbourne and Charlie White had multiple-hit games to lead Maryland over West Virginia, 10-6.
• The offense has pumped out 10-plus hits in each of the last three games, as several Terps have turned hot at the plate. Stinnett is 6-for-11 with five RBI and four runs in that stretch, White is 6-for-12 and Alfredo Rodriguez is 5-for-11 with three doubles. Etchison returned from a broken hand on March 22 and is 6-for-16 over the last five games - all starts behind the plate. Ryan Holland leads the team in hitting (.322), doubles (7), RBI (18), walks (16), slugging (.456) and on-base percentage (.431).
• David Carroll has continued to impress on the mound and will take over this weekend as the Friday-night starter. Carroll was named the Primetime Pitcher of the Week by CollegeBaseball360.com after logging 7 1/3 shutout innings, striking out a season-high seven and allowing just three hits in the win over FSU. Over his last three starts, Carroll has given up just two earned runs in 21 1/3 innings. His 2.15 ERA ranks 10th in the ACC, while his 46.0 IP is seventh.
• In addition to moving Carroll up a day, Eric Potter, previously the game-three starter, will slide into the Saturday role. Potter is holding opponents to a .200 batting average, has 30 strikeouts and will look to recapture his early season form, when he logged at least six innings in four of his first five starts. Sunday's pitching matchup has yet to be determined.
Follow the Terps Online
• Video of the entire series can be seen live on the Internet with a subscription to TigerCast at www.ClemsonTigers.com. Live stats will be available at www.umterps.com. Follow the Terps on Twitter at www.twitter.com/umterps.
About the Tigers...
• Clemson is 16-12 and sitting in fourth place in the ACC Atlantic Division with a 4-8 conference mark. The Tigers were swept last weekend at No. 16 North Carolina, but came back with a pair of mid-week wins over Coastal Carolina and Western Carolina to improve their home record to 14-4. Since being swept at home by No. 11 Virginia on March 11-13, Clemson has reeled off eight straight wins at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
• The Tigers are hitting .314 with a .414 on-base percentage, marks that are second-best in the conference. Three Tigers rank in the ACC top-10 in hitting: junior Phil Pohl is second at .395, sophomore Spencer Kieboom is fifth at .384 and junior Brad Miller is 10th at .354. Pohl is also seventh in slugging (.593), Kieboom is sixth in OBP (.473) and Miller leads the league in OBP (.506).
• Sophomore right-handers Dominic Leone and Scott Firth will slide into the Friday and Saturday roles after both started on Saturday and Sunday the last two weekends. Leone (0-1, 5.54) has made three relief appearances and three starts for a total of 13 innings pitched. He has allowed nine runs on 12 hits and eight walks, while striking out 14. Firth (2-0, 3.55) has made four relief appearances and three starts with 25 1/3 innings pitched. He has given up 16 runs on 19 hits and 16 walks, is holding opponents to a .198 batting average and has 16 strikeouts. As a staff Clemson ranks sixth in the ACC with a 3.83 ERA.
SERIES HISTORY: Maryland trails the all-time series with Clemson, 39-109. The Tigers swept the Terrapins in College Park last season and took two of three at home in 2009.
Quick Hits...
• Against West Virginia on April 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.
• Maryland has three shutouts this year - the same amount as 2008, 2009 and 2010 combined.
• The Terps had at least 10 hits in each of the last three games; they last did that in March of 2010, when they had 12 against Hofstra, 10 against Hofstra and 14 against Virginia Tech.
• 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 t-2nd in the ACC with 53 stolen bases, behind only Duke with 60. Alfredo Rodriguez leads the team with 11 stolen bags on 14 tries. Charlie White is 10-for-10.
