2008 Woodie Awards
Clutch hitting again saves baseball
Aaron Kraut
Issue date: 3/27/08 Section: Sports
The Terrapin baseball team came back to beat UMBC 6-5 last night in the same fashion they have been beating out of conference teams all season.
The script for the Terps is familiar: They commit errors in the field, make poor decisions running the base paths and fail to bunt runners over for the first five innings or so and then chip away until a big hit late in the game gives the Terps (13-11, 2-7 ACC) the lead for good.
"We're gonna have to learn to get on them early because we're not always gonna get that big hit," said senior relief pitcher Brad Taylor, who earned his second save of the year. "It does show that we have good team chemistry. We have guys that are willing to step up and get it done at the end of games."
Just like in previous comebacks against George Mason, Delaware and Hofstra the Terps got a clutch hit in a late game situation. This time, it was freshman pinch hitter Bill Rice, who with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh laced a three-run double to center field.
"With the bases loaded, I was just looking for a pitch I knew I could hit," Rice said. "We need a little more energy in the beginning of the game, right now we're coming in a little flat."
A third inning in which the Retrievers scored three runs on only two hits because of a dropped fly ball by junior left fielder Gerry Spessard and a misplayed single by junior right fielder Dan Benick gave UMBC a 5-1 lead.
The Terps bats weren't helping the cause early. Until Rice's deciding blow in the seventh, the Terps were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
But the eventual winning pitcher, Kevin Biringer, pitched four solid innings of one run ball and the Terps chipped away to make it 5-3 when Rice came through in the seventh.
"We were fortunate tonight to win the ball game; we had too many mental mistakes. We could have taken control of this game early on," coach Terry Rupp said. "What I told our guys is 'hopefully we got all this out of our system so that we're ready to play this weekend.'"
Despite the early mistakes, the Terps still got the win and with it, some momentum going into this weekend's series with Clemson.
"I think it's definitely a positive sign," said Taylor. 'We're winning games that we just used to kick in the bucket, games that we didn't win a few years ago."
akrautdbk@gmail.com
The script for the Terps is familiar: They commit errors in the field, make poor decisions running the base paths and fail to bunt runners over for the first five innings or so and then chip away until a big hit late in the game gives the Terps (13-11, 2-7 ACC) the lead for good.
"We're gonna have to learn to get on them early because we're not always gonna get that big hit," said senior relief pitcher Brad Taylor, who earned his second save of the year. "It does show that we have good team chemistry. We have guys that are willing to step up and get it done at the end of games."
Just like in previous comebacks against George Mason, Delaware and Hofstra the Terps got a clutch hit in a late game situation. This time, it was freshman pinch hitter Bill Rice, who with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh laced a three-run double to center field.
"With the bases loaded, I was just looking for a pitch I knew I could hit," Rice said. "We need a little more energy in the beginning of the game, right now we're coming in a little flat."
A third inning in which the Retrievers scored three runs on only two hits because of a dropped fly ball by junior left fielder Gerry Spessard and a misplayed single by junior right fielder Dan Benick gave UMBC a 5-1 lead.
The Terps bats weren't helping the cause early. Until Rice's deciding blow in the seventh, the Terps were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
But the eventual winning pitcher, Kevin Biringer, pitched four solid innings of one run ball and the Terps chipped away to make it 5-3 when Rice came through in the seventh.
"We were fortunate tonight to win the ball game; we had too many mental mistakes. We could have taken control of this game early on," coach Terry Rupp said. "What I told our guys is 'hopefully we got all this out of our system so that we're ready to play this weekend.'"
Despite the early mistakes, the Terps still got the win and with it, some momentum going into this weekend's series with Clemson.
"I think it's definitely a positive sign," said Taylor. 'We're winning games that we just used to kick in the bucket, games that we didn't win a few years ago."
akrautdbk@gmail.com
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