Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

The Terrapin baseball team hosts No. 19 Clemson this weekend in a critical ACC Atlantic Division matchup, but part of the team's focus is on staying fresh during a long, grueling baseball season.

"You're getting on a bus, you're traveling, and the academic issues the players have to deal with on a daily basis have a wear and tear and you," coach Terry Rupp said. "It's a long season when you're playing five games a week."

Despite a rough ACC start, the Terps (13-11, 2-7 ACC) know there is a lot of time left to improve their standing in the conference. While they sit in next to last place now, a top eight spot in the ACC and berth in the conference tournament is still attainable.

"We're really gonna have to make a move if we want to achieve our goal to make the tournament. Now's the time that we have to win some games," senior catcher Chad Durakis said. "It's the same grind for everybody, it's just about fighting your way through it."

Even though Clemson is ranked, they are 4-5 in the ACC. Still, the Tigers are an annual ACC power.

"It'd be a good morale boost to go out and beat them," junior Will Greenberg said. "Beating a ranked team would be really good, especially since they're having a down year."

But even if the Terps do win this weekend's series, it will be hard to get too confident. The majority of this year's players were on the 2007 team which started 5-4 in the ACC, only to finish 7-22.

The Terps say they understand to change their ACC fortunes they are going to have to stay consistent throughout the entire season.

"It's a grind, but baseball is supposed to be fun," Greenberg said. "You gotta keep it light and just have as much fun with it as you can. You gotta embrace it and just play your best."

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