BALTIMORE, Maryland April 18, 2014 - When your starting pitcher throws 141 pitches, you better have won. In an age when even big league pitchers rarely top 110, Jake Stinnett rared back and threw 141, which comes to a complete game, 7-2 ACC Conference victory over a red hot Georgia Tech team. Stinnett allowed single runs in each of the first two innings, then slammed the door shut on the Yellow Jackets. Maryland was slow getting started, and this game was a nailbiter until the seventh, when Jose Cuas ended the suspense with one swing of the bat. That swing was his fifth homer of the season and second in as many games. It came in the seventh inning with two Terrapins on base, and turned a close 4-2 game into a not close at all, 7-2 game. The Terps improved to 8-10 in the ACC and 23-13 overall. It goes without saying that this is Maryland's best showing in the ACC in a very long time. Georgia Tech fell to 10-9 in the conference and 24-15 overall (the Terps and Yellow Jackets are not in the same division within the ACC).
Tech took a 1-0 lead in the first on two singles, a wild pitch and an infield ground out. They made it 2-0 in the top of the second on a hit batsman, a bunt and a single up the middle by their leadoff hitter, Daniel Spingola. Spingola was a thorn in Stinnet's side all night, going 2-3 and getting on base two other times on walks. But Spingola was the only player who had more than one hit off of Stinnet. The Terps battled back within one run in their half of the second when Blake Schmidt singled with one out, stole second after two were out, and scored on a single by Tim Lewis. Then the pitchers took over. Tech starter Josh Heddinger ended up pitching into the seventh inning, giving up only four hits. He walked two and hit two Terps, with the latter fact being part of his undoing. Neither team scored until Maryland broke through in the bottom of the seventh, forcing Heddinger, now 2-2 on the year, out of the game.
Schmidt again got the inning started with a single. This time he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jose Cuas. Once again, Tim Lewis got Schmidt home with a single. That tied the score, 2-2. This time, however, the Terps were just getting started. Kyle Convissar was hit by a pitch, moving Lewis to second and bringing Tech coach Dan Hall out of the dugout to get Heddinger. The new pitcher, Sam Clay, immediately plunked another Terp, Mike Rescigno, who was pinch-hitting for Anthony Papio. Now Maryland had the bases loaded. Terp Coach John Sfezc then called for a "safety squeeze," a play in which the hitter squares to bunt and the runner at third breaks for the plate immediately upon the ball hitting the bat. Clay charged the bunt but mishandled it, allowing all runners to advance with White taking first. White was also credited with an RBI. Brandon Lowe then put Maryland ahead, 4-2, with a sacrifice fly that scored Convissar.
The game was still tight when the Terps came to bat in the eighth inning. Jose Cuas made sure it didn't stay close. He had homered Wednesday against Navy. On Friday the victim was an ACC opponent. Kevin Martir and Schmidt had each drawn walks to start the eighth and were given a free ride home when Cuas connected.
Stinnett, despite the pitch count, looked strong in the 8th and 9th. He struck out ten Yellow Jacket hitters and surrendered just five hits. What's more, two of the strike outs came in the 8th inning and two more came in the ninth. Stinnett improved to 4-5 and he remains the ACC leader in strikeouts, now with 84 on the season. The series with Georgia Tech continues Saturday afternoon at 2 pm.
Elsewhere in the ACC, No. 1 Virginia edged North Carolina in Charlottesville, 3-2; No. 5 Florida State whacked Wake Forest, 7-1 in Winston-Salem; No. 21 Clemson won at Pittsburgh, 3-2, in eleven innings; Duke edged Virginia Tech, 3-2, in twelve innings at Blacksburg, and North Carolina State beat back Boston College, 5-1, in Raleigh. The Miami-Notre Dame series at Coral Gables starts tomorrow and continues Sunday and Monday night.
Here are the up-to-date ACC Standings, with conference records given first and overall record last.
Atlantic Division
1. Florida State: 15 wins, 4 losses, .789 pct, 29 wins, 8 losses
2. Clemson: 11 wins, 7 losses, .611 pct, 3.5 games behind, 23 wins, 14 losses
3. Wake Forest: 11 wins, 8 losses, .579 pct, 4.0 games behind, 24 wins, 16 losses
4. Maryland: 8 wins, 10 losses, .444 pct, 6.5 games behind, 23 wins, 13 losses
5. North Carolina State: 7 wins, 12 losses, .368 pct, 8 games behind, 21 wins, 15 losses
6. Notre Dame: 3 wins, 15 losses, .167 pct, 11.5 games behind, 15 wins, 21 losses
7. Boston College: 3 wins, 16 losses, .158 pct, 12 games behind, 11 wins, 25 losses
Coastal Division
1. Virginia: 15 wins, 4 losses, .789 pct, 32 wins, 6 losses
2. Miami: 14 wins, 4 losses, .778 pct, 0.5 games behind, 26 wins, 12 losses
3. Georgia Tech: 10 wins, 9 losses, .526 pct, 5 games behind, 24 wins, 15 losses
4. Duke: 10 wins, 9 losses, .526 pct, 5 games behind, 22 wins, 17 losses
5. North Carolina: 9 wins, 10 losses, .474 pct, 6 games behind, 22 wins, 16 losses
6. Pittsburgh: 8 wins, 11 losses, .444 pct, 6 games behind, 16 wins, 21 losses
7. Virginia Tech: 7 wins, 12 losses, .389 pct, 7 games behind, 18 wins, 18 losses
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