University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Maryland
McDonald, Terps Top North Carolina, 15-12
April 7, 2001 | Baseball
April 7, 2001
COLLEGE PARK, Md.- Junior C Kevin McDonald (Rockaway, N.J.) went 4-for-6 with a homerun and five runs driven in as the Maryland baseball team topped North Carolina, 15-12, Saturday afternoon at Shipley Field. McDonald's four hits and five runs driven in are both career highs for the New Jersey native.
The second-straight win over North Carolina marks the first time that the Terps have won a three-game series at home over the Tar Heels since 1986. In both wins over Carolina, Maryland has tied a season-high with 17 hits in each contest.
The Terrapins jumped on Carolina pitchers early and often, sending 11 batters to the plate in the first inning and scoring seven runs. North Carolina starter Dennis Robinson did not even make it out of the first inning as he yielded seven runs on five hits in his 2/3 of an inning of work. The first five batters of the game all recorded a hit, including a two-run double off the bat of McDonald. Six hits and three Tar Heel errors led to the big first inning for the Terrapins.
North Carolina answered back with four runs of its own in the second to close the gap to 7-4. The Tar Heels added another run in the third to inch even closer at 7-5 when the Terrapin bats got going again.
In the Maryland fourth, McDonald drove in his third run of the game with a RBI single down the right field line to score sophomore 2B John McCurdy (Crofton, Md.). McCurdy also enjoyed a good day at the plate with his 2-for-5 performance with two runs scored and a RBI.
A four-run Maryland fifth inning included three hits to increase the Terps' lead to 12-5. In the fifth, junior CF Matt Swope (New Carrollton, Md.) got things started with a RBI single to left to score junior DH Ray Gemmill (Silver Spring, Md.). The single for Swope extended his career-best hitting streak to a team-high 13 games this season. A two-RBI double from McCurdy and a sacrifice fly from senior LF Brian Patenaude (Marietta, Ga.) scored the Terrapins other three runs in the fifth.
Two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings for the Tar Heels closed the lead to 12-9 before Maryland used the long ball to put the game away. In the seventh, McDonald launched his team-leading sixth homerun over the left field fence to give Maryland a 14-9 lead. Patenaude led off the inning with a double before McDonald hit his two-run homer. The next batter, senior 3B Steve Oursler (Clinton, Md.) also went deep, with a long homerun to left. It was the first time Maryland had two players go back-to-back since Craig Munroe and Jason Mohap hit consecutive homers on March 15 of last season against Coppin State.
The Tar Heels made things interesting with three runs in the ninth inning to close the scoring at 15-12.
The victory is the fourth straight for the Terps, their longest winning streak of the season. Maryland is now 10-18 overall and 2-8 in the ACC. Carolina has now fallen to 19-16 overall and 2-9 in the conference.
A victory by the Terrapins tomorrow would give Maryland its first five-game winning streak since 1999 (March 30-April 9). A win would also be the first three-game sweep of an ACC opponent in over seven years at home for Maryland since its sweep of Virginia April 29-May 1, 1994. Catch all the action tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Shipley Field.
