Trouble found Nigel Belgrave in the top of the ninth. Belgrave walked one batter and a hit-and-run play added another baserunner. Another walk loaded the bases and the Terps’ chances of leaving the inning without giving up a run looked bleak. 

Luke Shliger walked to the mound to calm down his pitcher. The meeting worked and Belgrave was lights out. Belgrave struck out the side, winning the game.

“The more he’s [Belgrave] in that spot, the more he executes that, the more he believes in that, and that guy is something else. That was a gutsy effort by him in the end,” said head coach Rob Vaughn.

Maryland won the second game of the weekend series against Maine, 5-4. The win moves the Terps’ record back to .500, at 7-7. 

The Terps came into Saturday following their best offensive performance of the year scoring 25 runs in their win against Maine. The offense came from most everyone on the roster. Starters Elijah Lambros, Matt Shaw, and Nick Lorusso all had two home runs in the game. Luke Zeisloft and James Heffley made their season debuts both knocking in a pair of runs. 

The Terps’ dominant offense faced a first-time starter on Saturday. Maine’s Gianni Gambardella got the starting assignment, after appearing in three games this season out of the bullpen. The Terps sent Nick Dean to the bump for his fourth start of the year. Both pitchers faced some tough sledding early.

Maryland’s bats continued to stay hot as ever with Nick Lorusso leading the charge. Lorusso blasted his seventh home run of the season, this one a two-run shot. Matt Shaw followed him with a double. The Terps were able to manufacture Shaw’s run in to cap off a strong first inning. 

The Terps’ 3-0 lead evaporated, immediately in the next half-inning. Maine’s first base runner of the game reached base after the ball ricocheted off Dean’s glove slowing the comebacker down enough for no play to be had. Myles Sargent blasted Dean’s first pitch over the fence in left-center field, scoring two for Maine.

The Black Bears tied the game later in the inning off back-to-back doubles from the eight and nine hitters.

The game transitioned from an offensive onslaught to a tight pitcher’s duel. Both starters pitched effectively, especially pitching out of trouble. The two starters combined to give up 20 hits, but both only allowed four runs to score, thanks in part to the defenses. 

“We need to keep that up because that, you know, sparks everything from the bats to the pitching, just everything starts with defense with this team,” said Nick Lorusso.

Dean ended his day in the sixth inning after allowing the tying run to cross the plate, bringing the score to 4-4. Dean’s final line ended with him allowing four runs while giving up 11 hits and only walking one.

Gambardella’s line was finished just an inning later. In his first collegiate start, Gambardella pitched six innings allowing only four runs to cross the plate and no walks. 

Maryland broke the tie in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ian Petrutz, who before the at-bat was 0-3 on the day, blasted the ball over the right field fence. Petrutz’s sixth home run of the year was the game-winning run and his first home run in six games. 

“They’ve kind of been attacking me on the outer third of the plate so I scooted up a little bit and just kind of got my barrel to something I could handle,” said Petrutz. 

Besides the timely hitting, another bright spot for the Terrapins was the performance of their bullpen. The bullpen allowed only two hits in four innings of work. The bullpen struck out seven Black Bear batters and only allowed two free passes. 

“When you can use them in a situation like that, man, that’s what they’re capable of,” said Vaughn. “Some of that is yeah those guys threw well, some of that is us just giving them a chance, putting them in the right spots.”

The Terps will go for the series sweep against Maine, on Sunday at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.