No. 20 Clemson takes two from No. 25 Maryland, 3-1 and 7-1

BALTIMORE, Maryland March 29, 2014 - Maryland's surge to the top of the ACC Baseball Standings hit an abrupt snag Friday when they dropped both ends of a day-night double header in their own stadium. The loss in the opener was particularly painful. Senior Starting Pitcher Jake Stinnett fired eight innings of solid baseball, limiting the hard-hitting, free-swinging Tigers to just seven hits and only one run. And because Senior Mike Montville smashed a pinch hit home run in the bottom of the 8th, Stinnett turned the game over to the bullpen with the score deadlocked at a run apiece. But for those fans who thought they were witnessing the beginning of another Terp ACC victory, reality set in all too soon. In the top of the ninth, Terp Coach John Szefc went to the pen. Some onlookers gasped in the bottom of the 8th when Szefc pinch hit for one of his best hitters, Blake Schmitt. But that's why Szefc gets paid the big money. The player he sent to the plate to bat for Schmitt, Mike Montville, took a 1-1 pitch and just like that tied the game. Kyle Convissar followed with a single, but Convissar was thrown out moments later trying to steal second. Daniel Gossett got the win for the Tigers to improve to 3-0 and Montville's homer, his first of the season, was the only run Gossett surrendered. With Stinnett out, Szefc summonsed Brandon Casas to start the ninth, but Casas quickly surrendered a double to Steve Wilkerson to start the inning. Wilkerson had struck out twice against Stinnett. Szefc again went to the bullpen, this time bringing in Kevin Mooney to face Clemson's Shane Kennedy. Kennedy accounted for the Tigers first run in the second inning when he homered off of Stinnett. For the afternoon, Kennedy was 4-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. His contribution in the eighth was a long triple to centerfield that scored Wilkerson. Kennedy then scored on Joe Baum's sacrifice fly. The Terps went quietly in the ninth against Tiger closer Matt Campbell, who recorded his fifth save.

The nightcap, by comparison, was no contest. Freshman Mike Shawaryn took his first loss of the season, dropping to 5-1. Clemson struck for four runs in the top of the first off Shawaryn, who for the day went four and one-third innings, surrendering 5 runs, all earned, on nine hits. After getting four in the first inning, the Tigers struck for two more in the fifth before Maryland got on the board in the seventh when Brandon Lowe's two-out triple scored Kevin Martir, who had singled to lead off the inning. Lowe was the only Terp with more than one hit. The teams conclude their series today at 2 pm.