Terrapins Opportunistic in 5-3 Win Over Clemson Saturday

March 29, 2008

College Park, MD –

Maryland made the most of its six hits and capitalized on two key Tiger errors to down Clemson 5-3 in front of 579 fans at Shipley Field on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Tigers only scored three of their 14 baserunners and left 11 men on base, including eight in scoring position. The Terrapins, who evened the series 1-1, improved to 14-12 overall and 3-8 in the ACC, while Clemson fell to 17-8 overall and 5-6 in ACC play.

Freshman lefty Adam Kolarek (1-0) pitched 4.1 superb innings in relief to earn his first career win. He allowed two hits, no runs, and one walk with one strikeout. Matt Quinn retired the last batter to pick up his fourth save of the season.

Tiger reliever Justin Sarratt (1-1) allowed one run on two hits in 2.0 innings pitched, as he suffered the loss. Starter Graham Stoneburner pitched 5.0 innings, allowing just three hits, no earned runs, and no walks with four strikeouts.

Nick Jowers had a team-high two hits for Maryland, who left just three runners on base. Jeff Schaus paced Clemson with two doubles.

The Tigers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning. With two outs, John Hinson singled up the middle and scored on Stan Widmann’s double to left-center.

In the third inning, the Tigers tacked on two runs to take a 3-0 lead. Schaus hit a one-out double down the right-field line and Doug Hogan followed with a double down the left-field line to score Schaus. Ben Paulsen hit a single to center, as Hogan stopped at third base. Two batters later with two outs, Wilson Boyd struck out swinging. However, the ball bounced to the backstop, allowing Hogan to score and Boyd to reach first base on the wild pitch.

The Terrapins got on the scoreboard in the fourth inning with two unearned runs thanks in part to a costly Tiger error. Steve Braun led off with a line-drive single to left field. Jensen Pupa then hit a potential double-play grounder to Mike Freeman at second. But the ball went under his glove and Braun advanced to third. Mike Murphy followed with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Braun. Two batters later, Chad Durakis laced a two-out double down the left-field line to score Will Greenberg, who had earlier reached on a fielder’s choice.

Another Tiger miscue allowed the Terrapins to tie the score in the fifth inning. Jowers led off with a double to left-center. Three batters later with Jowers on third base, Braun reached on a two-out fielding error by Hinson, allowing Jowers to score.

For the third straight inning, Maryland puts its leadoff batter on base in the sixth inning. And for the third straight inning, the Terrapins dented the scoreboard with at least one run. Pupa led off with a double down the left-field line, moved to third on Murphy’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on Greenberg’s groundout to second. It broke Clemson’s 33-inning streak of not allowing an earned run in ACC play.

Maryland added an insurance run in the eighth inning after the leadoff batter reached. Joe Palumbo led off with a walk and moved to second on Braun’s sacrifice bunt. Three batters later, pinch-hitter Dan Benick blooped a two-out single to left-center to score Palumbo.

Clemson and Maryland will play the series-finale on Sunday at 1:00 PM.