Maryland
Miami
Wacker's Five Hits Lead Terps Over Miami
3/25/2012 8:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 25, 2012
Final Stats | Season Stats (PDF)
CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Korey Wacker went 5-for-5 with a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh and Maryland matched a season high with 15 hits to defeat No. 12 Miami 6-4 Sunday afternoon.
Wacker, who became the first Maryland player with five hits in a game since 2007, was one of four Terps with multiple hits. Jordan Hagel went 4-for-5, and Michael Montville and K.J. Hockaday both had a pair of hits.
With two of the top pitchers in the conference on the mound - Harman's 1.11 ERA ranked second coming in, while Miami's Steven Ewing's 1.78 mark ranked eighth - few expected a slugfest.
But that's what it turned into, with the Hurricanes (19-5, 7-2 ACC) methodically taking an early lead by scoring a single run in each of the first four innings.
Maryland (16-9, 2-7 ACC) responded though, scoring a pair of runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings to take the lead. Harman, meanwhile, found his groove and pitched scoreless innings in the fifth and sixth.
A wild two-out rally in the seventh inning ended up being the difference. On a 2-2 count, Montville slapped a single into left field that Miami's Rony Rodriguez let go through his legs, allowing Montville to advance to third. Wacker then came up and on a 0-2 count, singled up the middle to give Maryland a 5-4 lead.
Then, with the speedy Wacker on first, Miami pitcher A.J. Salcines attempted to pick him off, but the throw was errant and went into right field. Hurricane right fielder Tyler Palmer also mishandled it, and Wacker was able to come all the way around to score and make it 6-4.
That was enough to get to closer Jimmy Reed, who entered in the seventh and pitched a season-high three scoreless innings. Reed, who faced one over the minimum in his three innings, has still yet to allow a run in 14 1/3 innings of work this year.
Earlier, Hagel helped spark the Maryland offense in the fourth by doubling to left field and stealing third base. Montville's single drove in Hagel, and consecutive singles by Wacker and Jack Cleary followed to load the bases with one out. Alfredo Rodriguez then drew a walk to cut the Miami lead to 3-2, but an inning-ending double play followed to get the Canes out of the jam.
An inning later, the Terps were able to tie it up, with Tomo Delp roping a double off the wall in center field and later scoring, then Hagel driving in pinch runner Andrew Amaro with a single to right field.
Though the Canes had 12 hits in the game, Harman and Reed combined to hold them to just two over the last five innings.
Harman, who allowed double-digit hits for just the second time in his career, earned the win to improve to 4-1 on the year, while Reed got his seventh save. Miami's Adam Sargent (0-1) was pegged with the loss. Ewing allowed four runs on 10 hits in five innings but didn't factor into the decision.
Notes: Maryland improved to 6-5 against ranked opponents this season ... Harman has logged a team-high 38 1/3 innings this year and has a 1.88 ERA ... this was just the second of fix starts in which Harman allowed an earned run ... Reed has surrendered just six hits in 14 1/3 innings, while striking out 18 and walking one. He had two strikeouts Sunday ... Hagel recorded his second four-hit game of the year (also vs. Manhattan, 3/3) ... Wacker was 7-for-11 in the three-game series ... the Terps left 11 runners on base.
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