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Maryland Grand Slam Dooms No. 10 Baseball in 8-7 Loss
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Maryland’s Dan Benick hit a grand slam to cap a five-run eighth inning as the Terrapins recorded an 8-7 win over the No. 10 Virginia baseball team Saturday at Davenport Field.
The one-run defeat was UVa’s fourth this season and snapped a 19-game winning streak against the Terrapins, dating back to April 6, 2002. It also was Maryland’s first win in Charlottesville since April 25, 1999. All five of UVa’s losses this year have come by two runs or fewer.
Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) put up a career-best four hits, including three doubles, to lead the UVa offense. Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) added a pair of hits.
Virginia starting pitcher Andrew Carraway (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) went seven innings, allowing three earned runs, five hits and two walks while striking out six. Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) took the loss after coming on in the eighth and allowing three straight batters to reach all three eventually scored. He falls to 1-1 on the year.
Ian Schwalenberg (2-2) picked up the win for Maryland after tossing 1.2 innings and giving up two runs (one earned), three hits and one walk while striking out one. Dan Gentzler earned his first save after retiring the final two batters in the ninth inning. UM starter Brett Swinson went 5.1 innings and gave up five earned runs, nine hits and two walks while striking out one.
Maryland (14-16, 4-10 ACC) started off quickly, as David Poutier walked to lead off and scored two batters later when Mike Murphy took an outside 0-2 pitch and homered into the left-field bleachers.
Virginia (25-5, 7-5) needed just two pitches to get a run back as Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) ripped a home run of his own into the bleachers. It was Parker’s eighth long ball of the year and his fourth to lead off a game.
The Terrapins got the run back in the fourth inning on a two-out single up the middle by Mike Moss, which scored Will Greenberg.
UVa turned the two-run deficit into a two-run lead in a four-run sixth inning which knocked Swinson from the game. With one out, Proscia doubled to left field. He advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) infield single. John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) followed with a double to move Cannon to third, and both runners came home on a double by David Coleman (So., Richmond, Va.). Corey Hunt (R-So., Charlottesville, Va.) then hit a single to center to score Coleman and give UVa a 5-3 lead.
The Terrapins put the first four runners on in the eighth inning to start their rally. Poutier and Jordan Pupa hit consecutive singles to start the inning and Murphy followed with a single to plate Poutier and cut the lead to one. Matt Packer (Jr., Germantown, Tenn.) came on in relief and walked A.J. Casario before striking out Gerry Spessard. Benick then ripped the next pitch into the trees beyond the fence in left-center field for a grand slam to give the Terps an 8-5 lead.
UVa sliced a run off the lead in the eighth. Proscia led off with a double and scored with two outs on a pinch-hit single by Scott Silverstein (Fr., Olney, Md.). The Cavaliers’ opportunity to plate another run was thwarted when Greenberg made a diving stop of Parker grounder at first base to end the inning.
The Cavaliers made one final push in the ninth inning. With two out and runners on the corners, Gentzler made an errant pickoff throw to first base, allowing Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) to score from third. With a runner on second, Gentzler buckled down and struck out Cannon to end the game.
The teams conclude their three-game series at 1 p.m. Sunday.