Maryland baseball outplayed No. 22 Iowa for the second-straight game on Saturday, winning 7-4. Neither team’s offenses were pretty, but the Terps came back after trailing for the second day in a row to take their Big Ten opener.
Maryland starter Nick Dean’s steady hand returned for five much-needed dominant innings, and he controlled a span, which only his final batter managed a hit off of the pitcher. It was the first time this season since the Terps’ first series of the season against South Florida that he finished without allowing a run.
While the hitting started strong, five scoreless innings for the Terps followed a productive first pair of frames. Maryland’s relief core slowed the game to a crawl as they allowed Iowa back into the game, with the Hawkeyes even leading 4-3 at one point in the seventh. The Maryland bats met the moment, as Matt Shaw’s line drive granted the Terps a 6-4 lead they wouldn’t look back from.
“What a tough win right there,” Maryland coach Rob Vaughn said. “We battled, man. We got punched in the mouth there in the seventh…I don’t know too many teams that bounce back there on the road, and we found a way to get it done.”
The Saturday matchup arrived on the heels of a wild Friday series opener, which saw the Terps come back to win 10-9 after giving up five runs in the first inning. Matt Shaw showed out, going 4-4 from the plate and hammering two home runs, including an over 500 foot blast and a grand slam.
Luke Shliger got the ball rolling immediately for the Terps, smoking a home run on the first at-bat of the afternoon. Maryland continued taking advantage of Keaton Anthony as two more batters took pitches in the body to gain a free trip to first base, and Bobby Zmarzlak sent a dribbler halfway between the catcher and pitcher to safely bring in the man on third.
The early offense drove Anthony off the mound in favor of Zach Voelker. When it was his turn to pitch the very next inning, Shaw’s sac fly with a runner on base improved their score to 3-0.
Dean, for his part, turned in a rock-solid pitching performance. He held all Hawkeyes to pop-ups and strikeouts in the early goings, collecting three K’s in his first two innings alone.
“[Iowa is] a really good offense, and Nick Dean was absolutely outstanding,” Vaughn said. “He was just ahead in counts, mixing pitches, he did a really good job of keeping a really good offensive team off-balance.”
He took his no-hit bid deep into the afternoon, only allowing his first in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs. Even though catcher Cade Moss legged out a double, Dean escaped the potential scoring event.
Dean was pulled to start the sixth, finishing with four strikeouts while only allowing a single hit. Nate Haberthier entered in relief for the third time in four outings, but struggled to recreate the starter’s success. He let up hits to his first two batters, and the scoring run soon rounded the bases to put the Hawkeyes. When the bases were loaded just a few minutes later, a wild play ensued in which Sam Hojnar drilled a ball into the body of Haberthier, and the pitcher made the play at home to limit a second scorer before collapsing to the ground in agony. He was then taken out to be replaced by Kenny Lippman, who diffused to bases-loaded situation with ease.
The very next inning saw the Hawkeyes slowly erase the Terps’ lead, chasing Lippman off the mound with two runners on base only for David Falco Jr. to give up a long ball to the first batter he faced.
The Terps, though, responded in a big way on their next turn at the plate. They continued getting on base with hits and walks, breaking through when Lorusso drew a walk with the bases loaded to pull the score even at four. Shaw stepped up right after, adding to his impressive weekend with a single through the infield to bring in two more runners. More small-ball in the eighth added one more run to grant the Terps a 7-4 lead, and this would stand as the final score.
This time, the pitching held on. Tommy Kane controlled the final two innings and was rewarded with the save, and Maryland topped Iowa to take the series in the first two games.
“This group can really take a punch,” Vaughn said. “And I think that’s something that you wanna be known for…this is a resilient group of kids. Really good team win, really good effort.”
The Big Ten rivals will go at it one more time tomorrow at 1 p.m.
