Head coach Terry Rupp.
FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The 2009 University of Maryland baseball team will blend a unique mix of returning upperclassmen and talented freshmen in an attempt to build off the momentum the Terrapins built in the 2008 season.
The 2008 Terps posted the program’s first winning season since 2002, finishing 30-26, only the second 30-win season in team history.
Despite losing four starting position players and several pitchers from last season, an excellent recruiting class, possibly the best in Maryland history, leaves plenty of room for optimism in 2009.
Maryland welcomes 12 talented newcomers this season, 10 freshmen and two transfers.
“This team is an intriguing group of guys,” Rupp said. “We have a very talented class of incoming freshmen and some established guys that have been around and played a lot for us. The experience and the youth: we’re hoping that will mesh and create a good thing for us this year.
“I think this recruiting class gives us something we haven’t had in a long time here and that’s depth at every position. In this conference, you have to have depth on your roster to give guys a break during the week to get ready for the weekend.”
The Terps proved last season that they could compete with the best teams in the country. Maryland posted victories against No. 3 North Carolina and No. 17 NC State and also took two of three games from No. 21 Georgia Tech. However, the Terps missed the ACC Tournament, finishing with a 9-21 league record.
Maryland was much more competitive than the conference record indicates, though. The Terps lost nine games in conference by a single run.
Rupp hopes the improved overall talent level on this year’s roster will make the difference in some of those close games and help the Terps meet their goal of an ACC Tournament appearance.
“First and foremost, our immediate team goal is to make sure we get into the ACC Tournament and compete for a conference title,” Rupp said. “Beyond that, we want to make it into the ACC Tournament and compete in the regionals.”
Rupp also hopes the team feeds off last year’s memorable finish to get off to a good start this season.
Maryland’s 30th win in 2008 came in the season finale at Delaware, as pitcher Scott Swinson threw the sixth no-hitter in school history against the Blue Hens.
“Once we were eliminated from making the ACC Tournament, we changed our goals as a unit to make sure we had a 30-win season,” Rupp said. “We felt like that would help catapult into this year, with the returning guys ending on that kind of note and giving them some momentum coming into this year.”
CATCHER
The Terps have a big hole to fill behind the plate, as they will need to replace four-year starter Chad Durakis. Durakis ranks on several of Maryland’s all-time offensive lists and was the lone draft pick of last year’s team.
Senior Mike Moss is expected to be the team’s primary catcher. Moss gives the Terps a tough-minded presence behind the plate and a strong bat in the bottom of the lineup. Moss has been a part-time starter behind the plate and at first base the last two seasons and owns a career batting average of .284.
Fellow senior Will Greenberg also brings a lot of experience to the catching position and is an option there, though he will also see a lot of time at first base and the outfield.
Freshman Tyler Bennett of Colonel Richardson should also figure into the rotation and appears to be the team’s catcher of the future. Bennett hails from Federalsburg, Md., and attended Colonel Richardson High School. Jack Cleary gives the Terps another catcher, but could be a redshirt possibility this season.
INFIELD
The Terps will have to replace the middle of their infield this season, as Steve Braun and Joe Palumbo graduated last year.
Fortunately, there should not be a drop-off at those positions.
Junior college-transfer David Poutier looks to already have a stranglehold on the starting second base job. Poutier originally attended Coastal Carolina as a freshman, but played last season at Pensacola Junior College in Florida.
Poutier has wowed his coaches and teammates with his defensive abilities and with an improved offensive game he should be a pro prospect.
“He’s going to be our stabilizing force as far as our defense up the middle,” Rupp said of Poutier.
Poutier’s back-up at second base is talented freshman Matthew Murakami from Herndon, Va.
Freshman Alfredo Rodriguez is expected to step right into the starting shortstop role. Rodriguez hails from Oak Hill, Va., and was rated the best shortstop and fifth best overall player in Virginia last season. Rodriguez is known for his great range and excellent throwing arm.
The Terps have a nice situation at first base this season with the young, lefty-righty duo of Curtis Lazar and Zack Helgeson.
Lazar showed a ton of promise as a freshman last season, hitting .394 in 18 games. Helgeson, a true freshman from Roanoke, Va., gives the Terps a super-talented power hitting threat from the right side. Helgeson displayed his prodigious power last year when he beat out several of the top high school hitters in the country by winning the International Power Showcase High School Home Run Derby.
Will Greenberg could also see time at first base.
Senior Mike Murphy gives the Terps a consistent presence at the hot corner. Murphy has started every game the last two seasons and exploded at the plate last season with 13 home runs to rank among the ACC leaders.
Freshman Logan Welch of Tampa, Fla., will fill in as the team’s utility man and act as the top reserve at shortstop and third base. Welch can also play any outfield position.
Senior Jensen Pupa, the team’s leading hitter a season ago, could also play at first base, but is expected to be the team’s primary designated hitter.
OUTFIELD
The outfield is the one place on the diamond where the Terps can rely on a wealth of experience, as only Nick Jowers is gone from last year. Back are seniors Gerry Spessard, Dan Benick and Will Greenberg, as well as junior A.J. Casario.
Rupp is looking at a platoon situation in left field with Spessard and highly-touted freshman Taylor Buran.
Spessard is a fifth-year player and the school’s all-time triples leader. Buran is making an adjustment to playing in the outfield after primarily playing infield in high school. Buran is a potential middle-of-the-order batter with good power.
“We have a good situation in left field,” Rupp said. “We have to work on some things with Buran in the outfield, but we need his bat in the order and he’s a great athlete, so he should be able to adjust fine.”
The center field position is a close competition between Benick and Casario, though both will start, with the other going to right field.
“Those two had a fierce, fierce battle in the fall, so we’ll have to see who earns it before the season starts,” Rupp said.
Casario has started in right field the last two seasons and is the top pro prospect on the team, as he possesses all five tools, including a fantastic throwing arm tailor-made for right field.
Will Greenberg will also see time in right field, as well as catcher and first base.
With four left-handed bats in the outfield rotation, Rupp has a lot more options with his lineup.
“That’s the exciting thing about our outfield. We can mix in righties and lefties, or we can stack it with lefties against right-handed pitching,” Rupp said. “We haven’t had that in the past.”
PITCHING
Other than junior Scott Swinson, the Terps’ starting rotation is up in the air.
Swinson, who threw two complete-game victories and a no-hitter last season, is clearly the staff ace, but the other two weekend spots are up in the air. Among the competitors for the two spots are senior Brett Jones and sophomore left-handers Eric Potter and Adam Kolarek. Sophomore right-hander Brett Harman should also compete for one of the spots.
Two of the more intriguing prospects are true freshmen Matt Fullerton, a lefty, and Sander Beck. Fullerton is already a three-pitch pitcher with a strong presence on the mound at 6-feet-4-inches tall. Beck is a tremendous talent, as well, and threw three no-hitters in his high-school career.
“That starting rotation will solidify itself in the end,” Rupp said. “I think the key is going to be how the sophomore class of Kolarek, Potter and Harman pans out.”
It will be an on-going competition for those two spots, with the non-starters most likely making up the long and middle relief of the team.
Junior Dan Gentzler, a surprise walk-on from last season, is the leader for the closer spot after an impressive close to the season last year and an equally-solid fall session.
Sophomore Matt Quinn is also an option at the end of games, having split time between closing and setting up last year.
Junior Nathan Steelman is hoping to become the team’s left-handed matchup guy.
