Terps Set For First Mid-Week Games
3/5/2012 7:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 5, 2012
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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After sweeping a four-game series from Manhattan at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium, the University of Maryland baseball team is set to play its first mid-week games of the season.
Delaware (5-6) visits College Park on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. contest, and the Terps travel to Annapolis, Md., to take on Navy (5-5) Wednesday at 2 p.m.
Maryland enters the week having won eight games in a row, the team's best streak since setting the school record with 12 straight wins in 2002.
The Terps have put together a 9-1 record against tough competition: four of its wins have come over ranked teams (two at UCLA; one vs. Purdue; one at East Carolina) and seven of its wins have come against teams that were in the 2011 NCAA Tournament (two at UCLA; one at East Carolina; four vs. Manhattan).
Pitching and defense has been the calling card so far. Maryland's 0.95 ERA leads the Atlantic Coast Conference and its .976 fielding percentage is third in the league.
Michael Boyden (1-0, 0.00) will look to continue his early-season success as a reliever in a starting role. The senior, who has allowed just one hit in three relief appearances spanning 5 2/3 innings, will make his first start of the season against Delaware.
Against Navy on Wednesday, Sander Beck (1-0, 1.50) is expected to make his second start of the year. Beck earned a win in game two of Saturday's doubleheader against Manhattan by going five innings and allowing just one run.
Probable starters have yet to be determined for Delaware and Navy.
Terps Make Debut in Baseball America Top 25, NCBWA Top 30
A week after entering the rankings in two national polls, Maryland has made its debut in two more.
The Terps, off to their best start since 1968 at 9-1, are No. 25 in this week's Baseball America Top 25. It's the first time in the 32-year history of the poll that Maryland has been ranked. They also check in at No. 30 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Top 30.
In the Collegiate Baseball News Top 30, the Terps moved from No. 27 to No. 21, and in the Perfect Game Top 50 they maintained their spot at No. 20.
