A strikeout looking is how Ryan Van Buren ended the top of the sixth. It was the right-hander’s seventh strikeout of the game, ending another mid-week outing on a good note. 

Van Buren’s strong start helped Maryland win, 14-5, Tuesday afternoon against the Georgetown Hoyas in College Park.   

Van Buren started his second mid-week game of the year going six innings allowing five earned runs. The junior allowed just six hits while striking out seven Hoya batters and gave up just one walk. Two of those runs came via the bat of Jake Hyde who went two for three against Van Buren with two home runs. 

“I can’t say enough about Hyde by the way, that guy has just been a Terp killer,” said head coach Matt Swope.

The other three runs came in the top of the sixth as the right hander neared the 100 pitch mark. Georgetown got its three runs from the bats of Owen Carapellotti and Josh Rolling. Carapellotti plated two with the Hoya’s third extra base hit of the game and Rolling drove him home in the next at-bat with a single to right field. 

It was another quality outing after he pitched Maryland’s first mid-week game against Mount St. Mary’s going five and two-thirds allowing just one earned run.

“Overall, just again just pounding the zone coming and attacking,” said Swope. “ [He] did a great job [in] last weekend’s midweek start and just super consistent.”

Van Buren was fortunate to pitch with a comfortable lead for most of the game due to a seven run first inning from the Maryland offense that featured a great display of patience.   

11 Terrapins came to the plate in the first and seven of them reached the basepaths via a free pass. Georgetown starter Johan Franco was responsible for four of those walks hitting both Hacopian brothers and walking Sam Hojnar and Kevin Keister. Keister’s walk scored Maryland’s first run of the game. 

Franco was replaced by Marcello Mastroianni after the Keister at-bat, but he wasn’t able to find much success. Alex Calarco welcomed Mastroianni to the game with a double down the left field foul line that scored two. The left hander walked the next three batters plating two more Maryland runs. 

“That’s our M.O. that’s what we do. All I care about is swing decisions,” said Swope. “We want to swing at strikes and take balls and that’s all we talk about on an everyday basis.”

Brayden Martin made the first out of the inning, though it was a productive one plating another Maryland run. Eddie Hacopian did the same in his next at-bat and Hojnar struck out ending a long bottom of the first. 

The power came in the following innings off the bats of the up the middle duo of Keister and Hojnar as well as designated hitter Alex Calarco.

Keister hit his first home run of the season in the bottom of the second, sending a long fly ball past the light pole in left center. Hojnar continued his hot streak at the plate hitting a solo homer over the batter’s eye in center, his second of the season, in the third. 

Maryland scored four more runs throughout the rest of the game, one of those runs being a Calarco solo homer, keeping the game out of reach of a comeback. Maryland’s offense ended the game with ten walks and nine hits. Keister and Claraco led the team with 4 RBI apiece.

Duke McCarron closed the game with three scoreless innings out of the bullpen allowing one hit and striking out one batter. McCarron’s performance earned him his first collegiate save. 

The Terps have a second midweek game tomorrow against VCU before starting their first home weekend series on Friday against Bryant.