Maryland baseball scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth to end its three-game losing streak, beating UMBC, 12-6.
Following an 0-3 weekend in Minnesota, the Terps returned to College Park for a four-game homestand. The first game of the homestand came against the UMBC Retrievers. The Retrievers came into Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium winners of three straight.
Maryland sent Kyle McCoy to the mound for the second straight Tuesday. UMBC turned to Jayden Shertel. The Terps also made some minor changes to their lineup. Nick Lorusso slid up to the second spot, and Kevin Keister and Eddie Hacopian swapped places with Keister, assuming the fifth position.
The first two innings flew by. McCoy was lights out, retiring the first six Retrievers in order. Shertel was able to avoid danger with the help of key defensive plays. Shertel was relieved in the third inning, ending his day with just two innings pitched.
The offensive action started in the third inning, with the Retrievers striking for two runs.
Christian Easley drove in the first run with a single that went right under the outstretched glove of Matt Shaw at short. McCoy got the next batter out on a fly ball, getting just one out away from ending the inning. During the next at-bat McCoy tried to pick-off Easley at first. McCoy caught him in a rundown, but Easley evaded the Maryland tags, sliding into second safely. The comotion allowed the second UMBC run to score.
The Terps responded in the latter half of the inning, scoring five runs. The bases were loaded for the Terps with no outs and Matt Shaw at the plate. Shaw ripped a line drive that was snagged by the shortstop Dawson Baracani, who then threw to second to double up Shliger.
“That happens, that’s baseball. That was frustrating because I’ve struggled with bases loaded, and it would’ve been good to get a hit there,” said Matt Shaw. “That’s life, and we have more opportunities, got more at-bats, got more hits, so it ended up being just fine.”
Fine it was. With two outs and the bases loaded again due to a Petrutz walk, the bats came alive. Keister, Matt Woods, and Hacopian hit back-to-back-to-back singles, driving in four of the five runs. A balk by the UMBC pitcher forced in the last run, putting the Terps up, 5-2.
McCoy pitched a clean inning in the fourth, his last of the day. The freshman ended his outing pitching four innings and giving up only two runs. McCoy’s only inning allowing a baserunner came in the third.
“His ball has action to it. There’s some velocity. The changeup and slider are getting better, and he throws a ton of strikes,” said head coach Rob Vaughn. “So there’s just gonna be weak contact, and weak contact allows those pitchers to stay in the game for a long time.”
McCoy was replaced by Logan Ott, who had a solid outing himself. Ott pitched five innings allowing four runs to cross the plate. The four RBI he gave up came from the same person, Leewood Molessa.
Molessa, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week, went 2-4, both hits coming against Ott. Molessa’s first hit was a 2-run homer, the only home run of the game, that cut the Maryland lead to two. Molessa’s second hit (a two RBI double) was the most impactful. The double tied the score at 6-6 heading into the final two frames.
The Terps responded to the Molessa double, with a six-run bottom of the eighth. The rally started with Elijah Lambros getting hit by a pitch. Lorusso doubled him home, putting the Terps back on top.
Ben Craig, the UMBC pitcher, walked the next three Maryland batters, scoring Lorusso from third. Woods, in his home debut, roped a triple to right field, clearing the bases and increasing the Maryland lead to five. Hacopian drove in Woods with a base hit, putting a cap on the inning.
Maryland put together a good day at the plate, especially hitting with two outs. Maryland hit .455 with two outs and their third inning rally, all came with two outs. They were also proficient with runners in scoring position. Maryland was 7-14 in those opportunities, putting together solid at-bats in those situations.
“Sometimes hits are gonna fall, and sometimes hits are gonna get caught, and they ended up falling today,” said Matt Woods. “That was just due to sticking to our plan and sticking to our process and staying within ourselves and it worked for us today.”
The Terps will need to carry that clutch hitting into their first home weekend series of the year when Maine strolls into town on Friday.
