Our baseball team is still searching for it's first ACC win. While we're 13-1 against non-ACC foes, our record is a disappointing 0-5 in ACC play. This weekend #4 North Carolina came to Shipley Field. On Friday we lost 4-3 and yesterday we fell 9-5. I was at the game yesterday and was pleased to see a nearly packed house. Unfortunately, about 30% of the fans were Tar Heel supporters.

Some general observations about the Terps. They're not going to win many 8-7 slug fests. They have good starting pitching and an excellent closer (Jimmy Reed) but their middle relief isn't stellar. Their line-up can hit and do a good job of scoring with two outs. But they don't have draw enough walks (Alfredo Rodriguez seems to be the hitter showing the most patience at the plate) and other then Kiene don't have a strong left-handed hitter.

On the positive side, Maryland looks good. They make some really fine defensive plays and are a young team. If some of their hitters get hot they should make some noise this year.

North Carolina can just flat out hit. They collected 12 hits yesterday and hit a number of other hard shots that happened to be playable. Of the nine starters seven batted left-handed, so they might be vulnerable to a strong southpaw. Their third baseman Colin Moran is an All-American and pelted the ball in each plate appearance.

I hope we notch our first conference win today to bolster confidence. Regardless, Maryland baseball is competitive, fun to watch, and not like the dreadful team when I was a student there.