Terrapins Take Game-Two 4-1 Over #6 Clemson Saturday

March 24, 2007

College Park, MD –

A four-run fifth inning and outstanding pitching by Ryan Moorer led Maryland to a 4-1 victory over #6 Clemson on Saturday afternoon in front of 409 fans at Shipley Field. The Terrapins, who improved to 16-7 overall and 5-3 in the ACC, took a 2-0 series lead. The Tigers fell to 14-7 overall and 3-2 in ACC play.

Moorer (3-0) earned the win, as he pitched 7.0 innings, allowing two hits, no runs, and three walks with four strikeouts in throwing 112 pitches. Brett Cecil pitched 1.1 hitless and scoreless innings to record his seventh save of the season.

Tiger starter Ryan Hinson (1-1) suffered his first career loss. The sophomore lefthander pitched a career-long 6.2 innings, allowing six hits, four runs (two earned), and three walks with six strikeouts.

Seven different Terrapins had singles to account for the team’s seven hits. Mike Murphy had a game-high two RBIs as well. Four different Tigers accounted for their four hits, as Andy D’Alessio and Taylor Harbin hit doubles.

Wink Nolan led off the fifth inning with a single to right and Dan Benick followed with a single up the middle. Steve Braun moved both runners up a base on a sacrifice bunt and Joe Palumbo hit a slow roller to second base. Second-baseman David Bunnell could not make a play at first, as Nolan scored on the single. A.J. Casario followed with a potential inning-ending, double-play grounder to Bunnell, but the ball got under his glove, as Benick scored from third on the play. Murphy followed with a line-drive single to left to plate Palumbo and Casario, giving the Terrapins a 4-0 lead.

In the sixth inning, Brad Chalk led off with a walk, extending his streak of reaching base to 48 games. Three batters later and with two outs, D’Alessio laced a double off the wall in right field, the deepest part of Shipley Field. The ball hit a few feet from the top of the 25-foot-high fence. And because it was hit so hard, Wilson Boyd could not score from first. Doug Hogan then flied out to right field to end the inning.

The Tigers finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth inning. Chalk hit a one-out single to right-center. Two batters later with two outs, Harbin ripped a 3-1 pitch off the horizontal pole that makes the top of the fence down the left-field line. Chalk scored from first on the double, but Harbin was stranded. Clemson was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position in the game.

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