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Virginia Tops Maryland To Win Weekend Series, 8-7
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April 7, 2002
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The University of Virginia baseball team recorded an 8-7victory over the Maryland Terrapins at Shipley Field this afternoon to winthe weekend series two games to one. In a back and forth affair, UVa’sRobert Word delivered the game-winning hit in the top of the ninth inning tolead the Cavaliers to a one-run victory. UVa also posted a 5-0 win overMaryland in game one on Friday.
Virginia jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning whenDavid Stone started the game with a double and scored two batters later on aRBI-ground out by Dan Street to score Stone from third base. However,Maryland answered UVa’s run by scoring a run of its own when Matt Swopedoubled to right-center field before scoring a run when teammate John McCurdyhit a RBI-single in the Terrapins next at-bat to tie the score at 1-1.
Maryland took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the third inningwhen Will Frazier hit a bases loaded double that drove in Anthony Buffone andSwope to give the Terrapins a 3-1 lead. But Virginia cut Maryland’s lead to3-2 in the top of the fourth inning when Mark Reynolds executed a bunt-singleto reach first base before scoring a run two batters later when Chris Sweethit a RBI-single to shallow center field to drive in Reynolds.
In the top of the fifth inning, D. Street gave UVa the lead again when hedelivered a two-run home run to deep left field, giving the Cavaliers a 5-4lead. D. Street’s home run scored Stone, who reached base on a throwingerror by the Terrapins’ Kyle George. However, UVa’s lead was short lived andMaryland tied the game 4-4 in the bottom half of the inning when Frazierrecorded a RBI-ground out to score McCurdy, who single up the middle to reachbase.
With the scored tied at 4-4 through five innings of play, Virginia regainedthe lead again at 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning when Reynolds belted asolo home run to center field to give the Cavaliers a one-run lead. Later inthe inning, UVa extended its lead to 6-4 when Scott Headd drove in Sweet toscore a run with a RBI sacrifice bunt. The Cavaliers then went ahead 7-4when Mike Priest scored from second base when Stone singled to left field andthe Terrapins’ catcher Kevin McDonald dropped a ball that appeared to havePriest caught dead in his tracks.
Maryland cut Virginia’s lead to 7-6 in the bottom of the seventh inning whenFrazier connected on a two-run home run to left-center field to pull theTerrapins within one run of the Cavaliers. Four batters later, Maryland tiedthe game at 7-7 when Daryl Whitmer connected on a RBI-single to center fieldto drive in Jason Maxey to knot the score at seven runs apiece through sevencomplete innings of play.
Virginia took the lead for good, this time in the top of the ninth inning,when Word singled through the right side to drive in Stone to give theCavaliers an 8-7 lead. Word’s hit and Stone’s run were the game-winners.Stone also recorded two stolen bases in the game to give him 72 for hiscareer, tying him with Bill Narleski for first all-time in the history ofVirginia baseball.
UVa’s Chris Marinak (2-1) picked up the win after going 0.2 of an inningbefore Alan Zimmerer stepped in to close out the game and pick up his firstsave of the season. The Terrapins’ Brad Lyons was dealt the loss afterlasting 2.2 innings and gave up one run while putting the game-winning run onbase with a walk.
With the win, Virginia’s record improves to 18-15 overall, 7-5 in the ACC.The loss drops Maryland’s record to 20-11 overall, 1-8 in the conference.
The Cavaliers will return to action on Wednesday, April 10th when UVa travelsto Blacksburg, Va. to face the Virginia Tech Hokies at 3:00 p.m.