After suffering a brutal 21-6 loss to Wake Forest on Saturday night, Maryland baseball couldn’t recover on Sunday afternoon as they fell 11-10 to George Mason on a walk-off sac fly.
After getting their first three batters on base but one getting caught stealing, George Mason would score first after a double to right center drove in two runs in the bottom of the first. Another RBI single gave George Mason an early 3-0 lead heading into the second, but Maryland would answer as the bats woke up to start the third.
Kevin Keister opened the inning with a leadoff home run and after Luke Shliger singled into centerfield, Matt Shaw tied the game at three with a two-run home run into right field.
After Nick Lorusso and Ian Petrutz were walked and Matt Woods reached base on a fielder’s choice, a single up the middle from Elijah Lambros drove in two more runs to give the Terps their first lead, 5-3. Maryland would add three more runs in the top of the fourth, but it wasn’t enough as George Mason drove in seven runs in the bottom frame to retake a 10-8 lead.
Maryland had one more answer in them as Matt Woods drove in a two-run home run in the sixth to time the game at ten.
With the game tied heading into the ninth, Matt Shaw stepped up to the plate with a bases loaded opportunity before a grounder and force out at second ended the inning. With Dave Falco on the mound to close out the final six outs, George Mason would make the Terps pay after the first three batters reached base due to a pair of walks and hit by pitch. Three pitches later, a sac fly into right field ended the Terps season.
Maryland ended the 2023 season 42-21, tied for the second-most wins in program history while becoming the first repeat Big Ten regular-season champion since Indiana did so ten years ago. With Rob Vaughn named Big Ten coach of the year and Matt Shaw named Big Ten player of the year, Maryland also recorded single-season records for most runs scored (578), hits (684), walks (385) and RBIs (552).
Nick Lorusso also ended his season setting single-season program records in home runs (26), RBIs (105), hits (100), extra-base hits (46) and total bases (202).
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