GREENSBORO, N.C. – Maryland used a four-run outburst in the third and got seven shutout innings from freshman right-hander Mike Shawaryn to defeat fourth-ranked Florida State Friday afternoon at NewBridge Bank Park by a score of 5-3 at the ACC Championship.
With the win, Maryland (36-19) runs its winning streak to 11, the second-longest active streak in the country and one shy of a program record, and improves to 2-0 in Pool B. A Terrapin victory against North Carolina Saturday or a Virginia win over North Carolina Friday night secures a spot in Sunday's championship game for the Terps.
Shawaryn was the story for Maryland on Friday. The Carneys Point, N.J., native shutout the potent Seminole offense over seven innings holding Florida State (42-15) to two hits while striking out six. Shawaryn retired the first 14 batters of the game carrying a no-hitter into the fifth.
“That was probably as good of an outing as Mike Shawaryn has had throughout the whole year,” said head coach John Szefc. “When you look at the fact that he threw 73 strikes on 116 pitches, he's been doing that for us the whole year, pretty much, not really shocking. Second time he's beat Florida State this year. Obviously, that's a crucial game for us in the tournament because it puts us in a pretty good position.”
In two meetings with the Seminoles this season, Shawaryn has held FSU to one run in 14-1/3 innings with 11 strikeouts.
“Going into every game you look at it as a separate game each time you go against an opponent whether you've faced them before or not,” said Shawaryn. “You look at that time as another baseball game and you need three strikes to win.”
The Terps got all the runs they needed in the third inning Friday. A two-run double by Jose Cuas, a fielding error that plated a run and a RBI single from Tim Lewis put the Terps up by four.
After adding an insurance run in the seventh, closer Kevin Mooney squashed a Florida State rally in the eighth with three strikeouts stranding the tying run on first. In the ninth, Mooney retired the Noles in order for his 11th save of the season.
The Terps exploded for four runs in the third highlighted by a two-RBI double from Cuas to put the Terps in front. The big inning started with Kevin Martir reaching via a throwing error on Florida State shortstop Justin Gonzalez and Charlie White moving to first on a hit-by-pitch.
After LaMonte Wade sacrificed the runners over, Florida State intentionally walked Brandon Lowe to load the bases. Cuas made the Seminoles pay turning on the first pitch from Mike Compton and ripping it down the left field line and into the Terps' bullpen. Martir scored from third and White came home from second to put the Terps up 2-0.
“After the walk, bases loaded, I knew they were going to come at me with strikes, I was looking for anything I could drive into a gap,” said Cuas. “I got an off-speed [pitch] and I was able to drive it for a double.”
With the infield in, Blake Schmit shot one under the glove of Gonzalez to score Lowe to increase the lead to three. Lewis followed with bloop single over Gonzalez's head and into left for a RBI extending his hitting streak to 12 games.
Maryland tacked on a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Cuas. Wade drew a one-out walk and moved to third on a double to left by Lowe. Cuas then picked up his third RBI of the game with a fly ball to right.
Florida State's offense came to life in the eighth. Two walks and a single to start the frame loaded the bases and a wild pitch by reliever Bobby Ruse scored FSU's first run of the contest.
The wild pitch was followed by a John Nogowski RBI single to right cutting the Terrapin lead to three. Mooney entered from the bullpen and promptly struck out Jose Brizuela for the first out of the inning.
After allowing a third FSU run to score on a wild pitch and issuing a walk to Ben DeLuzio, Mooney struck out John Sansone and Jose Gonzalez both looking to end the threat.
Maryland closes pool play Saturday at 3 p.m. against seventh-seeded North Carolina.
-Maryland-
