The Terps had seen their lead cut to one in the bottom of the seventh after leading by six most of the game. The momentum seemed to shift and the Terps needed to respond. They did just that.
Luke Shliger walked and Matt Shaw blasted a ball to the outfield to put both runners in scoring position. Nick Lorusso brought in Shliger with a single and Ian Petrutz followed him with a three-run homer to break the game wide open.
“It was a great response,” said head coach Rob Vaughn. “The pack showed up and was really really good there.”
Those four runs were a part of the Terps’ seven-run eighth inning (their second seven run inning of the game) that powered them to a 19-7 victory against Delaware. The win increases Maryland’s win streak to eight, and their double-digit scoring-streak to seven. With the win, Maryland swept the season series against Delaware.
No. 23 Maryland entered the game winners of seven-straight, completing a sweep of Indiana in the weekend series. The sweep vaulted Maryland to first place in the Big Ten boasting a conference record of 11-4. The Maryland offense has been incredible during the win streak, having a run differential of plus 60 in those seven games. The Blue Hens came into the game after losing their weekend series to William and Mary. Delaware won the first game and then lost the next two.
The Terps sent Ryan Van Buren to the bump to make his first appearance against Delaware this season. Van Buren last pitched on Saturday against Indiana. He pitched an inning in that game, allowing no runs and striking out one in a game the Terps won, 16-2 . Van Buren had a season ERA of 7.52 and a WHIP just above two entering the game.
The Blue Hen starter, Nate Rolka, only lasted four batters into the game. Shliger and Shaw led off the game with back-to-back walks and a single by Nick Lorusso loaded the bases for Ian Petrutz. Petrutz worked the third walk of the inning putting Maryland on the board. That ended Rolka’s outing, bringing Wyatt Nelson to the bump.
Nelson was able to induce a ground ball but it couldn’t be turned into an out. Eddie Hacopian’s single scored the Terps second run. Jacob Orr and Shliger had the last two big hits in the inning. Orr singled up the middle, scoring two and Shliger blasted a bases-clearing double to give Maryland a 7-0 lead after one half inning.
The Blue Hens pushed across their first run of the game in the bottom of the second after Jake Dunion reached on a one out triple, his second of the year against Maryland, to the left field gap. Dunion came home to score on a Tyler Leach single that flew right over the head of Orr at third, starting to chip away at the Maryland lead.
Delaware pushed across a second run in the bottom of the third, cutting the Maryland lead to five, but Nick Lorusso got the run right back. Lorusso started the fourth inning with a solo homer that cleared the left field wall. Lorusso’s 17th home run of the year gave the Terps a, 8-2, lead.
The scoring was halted in the fifth as both teams put zeros on the scoreboard. The Terps went scoreless in the top half of the sixth and in the bottom of the inning Logan Ott came in from the bullpen to pitch. Ryan Van Buren ended his day in line for his first win of the season, pitching five innings, scattering five hits, and allowing two runs to cross the plate.
Ott held the Blue Hens scoreless in the sixth, then walked the first batter he faced in the seventh. Kenny Lippman came in for Ott and Delaware took advantage of the pitching change.
Lippman allowed hits to two of the first three batters he faced allowing one run to come home. JJ Freeman and Josearmando Diaz followed with a pair of home runs that brought in four runs, cutting the Maryland lead to one. Nigel Belgrave came on to get the final out of the inning, making his first appearance since April 22.
“We wanted Lippman to get a touch. We wanted Nate [Haberthier] to get a touch and we really wanted Nigel to get a touch,” said Vaughn. “Regardless of score you were going to see those guys in the game.”
After the seven run eighth Nigel Belgrave returned to the mound. Pitching with an eight run lead, Nigel Belgrave held the Blue Hens scoreless in the eighth. Maryland added four insurance runs in the top of the ninth and Nate Haberthier came in and shut down the ninth to complete the win.
“It’s not an awesome matchup for Kenny there but we really wanted him to get in the game and touch a baseball before this weekend,” said Vaughn. “Nigel came in and was great and then Nate was good there at the end.”
Maryland will look to continue their offensive success into the weekend series when they welcome Nebraska into College Park.
