Yesterday’s Terrapin baseball game had all the makings of a special day. It turned out to be quite the opposite.
With a win over No. 17 N.C. State, the Terps would have reached 30 victories for only the second time in program history and won more ACC games than any Terrapin team since 1972.
Add to those accomplishments the pre-game Senior Day ceremony, and Sunday seemed like it could be the Terps shining moment of 2008, especially after junior first baseman Will Greenberg hit a home run in the second inning for an early lead.
But the Wolfpack scored 10 combined runs in the third and fourth innings, including six runs with two outs in the fourth inning. And suddenly any possibility of a Terp win in the team’s final home game of 2008 was well out of reach.
“We came out, gave them some early runs and got behind,” coach Terry Rupp said. “When you get behind like that it’s tough for your offense to start getting going.”
The Terps (29-26, 9-21 ACC) did get going in the sixth inning with six runs of their own to knock N.C. State starting pitcher Alex Sogard out of the game. But the Wolfpack (35-16, 17-9) countered with three runs in the top of the seventh, and went on to win 17-8.
The Terps sent eight pitchers to the mound, including two – freshman Eric Potter and sophomore Nathan Steelman – who each gave up three runs without recording an out.
The Terps pitching woes yesterday were in stark contrast to the first game of the series Saturday afternoon, in which senior Kevin Biringer gave up two runs in a career-high eight innings pitched.
“Kevin threw one of his best games of the year, probably the best of his career,” Rupp said. “He had everything working and he got stronger as the game went on.”
The 6-2 win gave Biringer his fourth win of the year in what was most likely the final start of his baseball career. But Biringer’s gem was the lone bright spot of the weekend.
The Terps were never in contention in the second game of Saturday’s double-header. Junior starting pitcher Brett Jones gave up seven runs in the first inning and the Wolfpack cruised to a 12-1 win, ending any chance of the Terps making the ACC tournament.
But during yesterday’s ceremony honoring the Terps eight seniors, that was of little consequence.
The team had a chance, thanks in large part to seniors like catcher Chad Durakis and centerfielder Nick Jowers, to get a historic win that would signal improvement in the Terps baseball program.
After the fourth inning though, that chance was washed away in another disappointing conference loss.
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