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

The Terrapin baseball team finally had momentum and a 1-0 lead with two outs in the bottom of the third inning last night at West Virginia. Then, as it usually seems to happen to a slumping team, they just as quickly gave it all back. The Mountaineers exploded for 11 runs over the next 2.1 innings on the way to a 13-2 win.

The Terps got on the board right away when the second batter of the game, AJ Casario, hit the first pitch he saw for his third homer of the season and second in four games. West Virginia starter Josh Whitlock, who struck out seven in his eight innings, did strike out the side in the first, but Terp starter Mike Sufczynski started strong as well. He gave up no hits in the first two innings.

Sufczynski nearly kept his scoreless outing through the third, but the Mountaineers took control of the game with two outs. Second baseman Jason Pape led off the inning with a double and was advanced to third with a sacrifice bunt, but Sufczynski induced a pop to catcher and stood a good chance of ending the inning unscathed.

Justin Jenkins came through for West Virginia, though, tying the game with an RBI double to left and extending his hitting streak to 36 games. Austin Markel walked, and designated hitter Trent Ridgely had the big blow, a three-run home run.

Sufczynski continued to struggle in the fourth. He surrendered a lead-off homer to Jordon Yost. After allowing a walk and two singles leading to another run, Sufczynski was pulled from the game with two outs in the inning.

The young Terp bullpen also continued its struggles. Freshmen Tim Kearney and Nick Pearce yielded five more runs in the fifth, giving West Virginia an 11-2 cushion.

West Virginia, which entered the game second in the Big East in terms of team batting average with a .334 average, pounded out 16 hits in the win. Shortstop Tyler Kuhn paced the attack with three hits and four RBIs.

Whitlock won for the fifth straight start while holding the Terp offense to four hits and improving the Mountaineers to 16-3 at home in the season. The Terps' recent tail spin continued as they dropped their third straight game. After an 18-8 start to the season, the Terps are now just two games above .500 at 23-21.

Contact reporter Eric Detweiler at edetweilerdbk@gmail.com.

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