May 12, 2001
Recap
RICHMOND, Va.- Senior first baseman Chuck Easter went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double as the Maryland Terrapins downed Richmond 5-2 in a game that was called in the bottom of the sixth inning due to rain and unplayable field conditions.
The Terps crossed home plate two times in the second to take a 2-0 lead. Both Easter and freshman catcher Anthony Buffone reached base on throwing errors by Richmond third baseman Mike Gula and later scored to give Maryland the early lead.
Richmond scored its first run of the contest in the third. Chad Balog hit his second home run of the season to right center to make the score 2-1 Terps after three innings of play.
The Terrapins got that run back with one swing in the fourth. Easter drilled a home run to right field to put Maryland up 3-1. The long ball was Easter's fifth of the season and was also one of his career-high tying three runs scored.
The Spiders answered with a run in the home half of the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2. Catcher John Nathans doubled to the gap in left center to score first baseman Vito Chiaravalloti.
Maryland added to its lead in the sixth with two runs. After junior designated hitter Kevin McDonald singled and Easter doubled, senior shortstop Sean Lomas singled to left to score McDonald. Buffone added a sacrifice fly to plate Easter to make the score 5-2 Maryland.
In the Richmond sixth is when the rain came. After a two-hour delay, the game was called.
Maryland reliever Matt Basinger (3-2) picked up the win after pitching 1.2 innings. The Pennsylvania surrendered one hit and fanned one in relief of Mark Martin. Martin was solid as he threw four innings and struck out four.
The win improves the Terps to 17-36 while the Spiders end their season at 27-26. Maryland returns to the diamond Tuesday in the opening game of the 2001 ACC Tournament at Knights Stadium in Fort Mill, S.C. Maryland will either face North Carolina or NC State Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
