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Cavaliers Topple the Terrapins, 8-7
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April 7, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md.- Maryland freshman designated hitter Will Frazier (Mitchellville, Md.) went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and a career-high five RBIs, but it was not enough as Virginia edged the Terrapins, 8-7, Sunday afternoon in ACC baseball action at Shipley Field. The Terrapins stranded 12 runners on base and Virginia scored three unearned runs on the day to pull out the one-run decision.
In the first inning, the Cavaliers opened the scoring at 1-0 on a RBI-single off the bat of starting pitcher Dan Street.
The Terrapins responded with one run of their own in the home half of the first when junior shortstop John McCurdy (Crofton, Md.) singled to center field to score senior right fielder Matt Swope (New Carrollton, Md.) to tie the game at one.
Maryland took its first lead of the game in the third inning when Frazier drilled a two-out, two-run double, down the left field line to give the Terps a 3-1 lead.
Virginia scored once in the fourth on a RBI-single by center fielder Chris Sweet to make the score 3-2.
The Cavaliers added two runs on one swing in the fifth when Street blasted his 10th home run of the season to give UVa a 4-3 advantage. Both runs were unearned for UVa after Maryland junior second baseman Kyle George (Bel Air, Md.) committed an error earlier in the inning to keep the Virginia inning alive.
The Terps tied the game again in the fifth when Frazier drove in his third run of the game with a RBI-groundout to score McCurdy.
UVa answered right back, with three runs in the sixth to regain the lead 7-4. Shortstop Mark Reynolds led off the inning with a home run and catcher Scott Headd came through with his second sacrifice squeeze in two days for the second UVa run in the frame. Virginia scored its third run of the inning when David Stone singled to score David Priest. Priest should have been out at home plate after a perfect throw from Maryland left fielder Daryl Whitmer (Walforf, Md.), but Maryland catcher Kevin McDonald (Rockaway, N.J.) dropped the ball which led to UVa’s third unearned run of the game.
The Terrapins did not go down without a fight as Maryland scored three runs in the home half of the seventh to tie the game again, this time at 7-7. After McCurdy led off the inning with a double, Frazier blasted his fifth home run of the season to left field, for his fourth and fifth RBIs of the game, to pull Maryland back to within one at 7-6. Still in the seventh, Whitmer lined a two-out single to center to score first baseman Jason Maxey (Columbia, Md.) and tie the contest at seven.
Both teams failed to score in the eighth before Virginia crossed the plate once in the ninth to seal the 8-7 victory. Virginia first baseman Robert Word singled through the right side to score Stone and give UVa the lead for good. Stone led off the inning for Virginia with a walk off Maryland reliever Brad Lyons (Massapequa, N.Y.).
Virginia reliever Chris Marinak earned the victory by pitching 0.2 innings for the victory to improve to 2-1 on the year while Lyons (1-2) was tabbed with the loss. Virginia’s Alan Zimmerer got the final two outs of the game for his first save of the season.
With the loss, Maryland dropped to 20-11 on the year and 1-8 in the ACC while Virginia improved to 18-15 overall and 7-5 in conference play. The Terrapins return to the field Tuesday (April 9) at 3 p.m. at George Mason.