Kevin Keister stepped to the plate seeing Brayden Martin standing on third and Jacob Orr on first. The Terps trailed, 8-6, in the bottom of the seventh and it was up to Maryland’s captain to come up with a big hit. The Delaware product didn’t disappoint, sending a ball over the depiction of the number three jersey he now dons in left center. 

“I’ve had a couple big swings over my career like the one in the Big Ten Championship but this ranks there right with it,” Keister said postgame.  

Keister’s three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh gave Maryland its first lead of the game, powering The Terps to a 11-8 victory over USC Upstate Wednesday evening. 

Keister’s sixth home run of the season was one of two homers hit in the inning and drove half of Maryland’s six runs in the inning. Maryland had four hits in the inning, three for extra bases, to go along with three more baserunners that reached via the hit-by-pitch. 

Orr singled home one and the other two RBI came off the bat of Sophomore catcher Devin Russell who connected on his second home run of the game after starting the scoring for Maryland with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. 

“I was seeing the ball well and I, the first home run he kind of just threw me a slider, a get me over slider and I luckily stayed back and hammered it,” Russell said. “The second one was a two [zero] fastball so, you know, I was sitting fastball all the way.”

Russell finished day two for four with three RBI. 

Keister and Russell combined for three fifths of Maryland’s home run production. The other members of the home run club were third baseman Chris Hacopian and outfielder Ben Nardi. Nardi entered the game in place of Elijah Lambros in the top of the fourth. Head coach Matt Swope did not provide a comment on Lambros’ exit. 

Nardi blasted an opposite field two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth for his first long ball as a Terrapin. Chris Hacopian blasted his 13th home run of the season in the bottom of the fifth taking advantage of warm weather at “The Bob”. 

“They took advantage of it and so did we but you know we ended up hitting more than them and a little bit of vintage Terps from the last two or three years,” Swope said. “It’s nice to see from my standpoint.”

Maryland’s offense finished with 11 hits, three walks, and six extra base hits. Four Terps ended the game with multiple hits earning their 18th comeback win of the season following an inauspicious start for the Terps. 

The Spartans hit four home runs all of the solo variety with two of them coming in the top of the second. Koby Kropf and Troy Hamilton hit their solo homers back to back to start the inning, starting the scoring in the second. Noah Sullivan added a solo homer in the fourth and Tyler Lang hit one in the fifth completing the home run barrage for USC Upstate. 

Despite the many home runs hit by the Spartans no long balls were needed to help them score four runs in the top of the third to increase their lead to six to nothing. The Spartans had four hits only one going for extra bases going along with two walks. All four runs were scored against Maryland reliever, Nate Haberthier, who exited the inning after allowing the fourth run to score on a Vance Sheahan RBI single. 

“We’re gonna hold our heads high, we’re gonna play hard no matter what, we’re going to be good people, we’re going to do the right things, and you know, that’s why we stay on ourselves,” Swope said. “I’m proud of the guys coming back.”

Maryland used six pitchers throughout the game starting with Trystan Sarcone who made his first start as Terrapin pitching two innings allowing two earned runs. Evan Smith, Andrew Johnson, Kenny Lippman, and Logan Berrier all made appearances with Lippman earning the win and Berrier registering the save. 

Maryland’s pitching finished the game giving up 10 hits, five walks, and striking out seven USC Upstate batters. Maryland held the Spartans scoreless through the final four innings of the game.

The win ends Maryland’s midweek slate for the season. The Terps went 11-3 in midweek games this season.  

The Terps will have a couple of days off before taking on Boston College this weekend.