Coming in as a transfer and immediately becoming the Friday starter is not an easy task. But Maryland baseball’s starter, Lance Williams, proved he was up to the task Friday.
Williams pitched five innings of one-run ball and was complemented by ten hits from his offense as the Terps defeated UNC Wilmington 5-3 in their season opener at Brooks Field.
“I thought at times he was a little bit up and down, but Lance is a dog and that’s why we went and got him. Ultra confident out there,” head coach Matt Swope said.
This is the third straight year the Terps have begun their season with a victory.
Williams recorded a career high of six strikeouts as he earned his first win as a Terp. He commanded the game from the moment he took the mound and looked like a true number one starter.
“We have all the confidence in the world in him. I just thought tonight he was just doing a good job getting ahead and didn’t let small things affect him,” Swope said.
The much-anticipated No. 13 recruit Ty Kaunas performed well for Maryland. In his first start at shortstop, he went 2-for-5 and batted third in the lineup.
After UNCW jumped out to an early 1-0 lead off the bat of Kevin Jones in the second inning, the Terps quickly responded during the third inning. Jackson Sirois scored on a passed ball to tie it at 1-1.
In the fourth inning, the Terps continued to add on, scoring on an RBI fielder’s choice by Aden Hill. The Terps then managed to get runners on second and third, but a diving play by the Seahawks third baseman, Trevor Lucas, stifled the two-out rally.
With Williams cruising, the Terps continued to extend their lead. This time, it was off the bat of sophomore catcher Rylen Stockton. Stockton crushed a ball 392 feet and 103 mph off the bat to left-center field to extend the Terps lead to 3-1.
A transfer from UNC Asheville, Stockton was on the Big South All-Conference Second team in 2025, and already is providing the Terps with a big spark.
UNCW finally responded in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Jack Bechtel lined an RBI double down the line against Terps reliever Cristofer Cespedes, to move UNCW down just one run.
The Terps remained resilient and continued to respond to UNCW. Brayden Martin reached base three times and scored a run. He drew a walk and through a series of stolen bases and passed balls, came all the way around to score.
Maryland added to its lead, with one of first baseman Ryan Costello’s two hits. The redshirt freshman smoked an RBI double to right field.
The Seahawks bullpen did its job, quieting down Maryland’s offense. Clay Masonis mostly shut down the Terps, giving up just the one run over 2.1 innings.
Cespedes ran into some trouble in the eighth inning. He put runners on the corners, allowing two singles, but managed to hold the Sewhawks scoreless and preserve Maryland’s three-run lead.
In the bottom of the 9th, UNCW showed some fight, scoring a run off an RBI single by John Newton. But Cespedes completed his fourth inning of work and finished off the game for the Terps.
The Terps moved to 1-0 on the back of a strong pitching performance by Williams and a resilient offensive performance, scoring runs in four different innings. The big homerun came from Stockton, who went 2-4 and also threw out a runner attempting to steal.
