Maryland baseball looks to end two-game skid heading into Big Ten home opener

Maryland baseball team went 2-2 over the last week, including a three-game series win over previously-ranked Iowa. The Terps, however, were humbled on Tuesday after falling 13-3 to William and Mary at home.

In the first game of the three-game series against Iowa, the Terps started the game down 5-0 after the first inning. Jason Savacool got out to a rough start but was able to tighten up only giving up one more run through the next four innings. The Terps didn’t get the scoring going until the top of the fifth when they scored three runs thanks to singles from Nick Lorusso and Matt Shaw, as well as a balk by the Iowa pitcher, cutting the lead to two. Shaw would then give the Terps the lead in the sixth inning with a grand slam to make it 7-6. After Iowa would tie it up in the seventh, the Terps would take a three-run lead in the eighth off of three solo home runs by Shaw, Lorusso, and Elijah Lambros. Iowa would score two more but their comeback efforts would fall short with the Terps taking game one 10-9. Shaw led the Terps offensively going 4/4 with two home runs, six RBIs, and a walk. Nigel Belgrave earned the win for the Terps with David Falco Jr. getting the save.

In game two of the weekend series, the Terps’ offense stayed hot scoring seven more runs. Shaw led the Terps offensively once again going 2/4 with three RBIs. Luke Shliger, Bobby Zmerzlack, and Lorusso also drove in runs in the winning effort. The Terps’ pitching staff was able to find their groove in the second game only giving up four runs on the day. Nick Dean went five innings striking out four and only giving up one hit. The Terps bullpen would only give up six more hits and would strike out four more to get the 7-4 win. Falco Jr. earned the win and Tommy Kane earned the save.

In game three of the series, Maryland’s pitching staff had another rough day giving up 12 runs. Iowa score nine runs in the fifth inning alone where they would take a 10-6 lead and the Terps’ comeback effort would fall short this time losing 12-8. Kyle McCoy was charged with the loss for the Terps going four innings pitched with five strikeouts but five of his seven runs given up was earned runs. Despite Zmarzlack’s 3/5 effort with four RBIs and a home run, the Terps offense was simply not able to do enough to come away with the win and get their first series sweep since Maine.

The weekday match against William and Mary was another game where the pitching staff did not have a good day. The Tribe scored 13 runs in their 13-3 win over the Terps. Ryan Van Buren was charged with the loss for the Terps going 3.2 innings pitched and only striking out three batters. The Terps bullpen gave up eight runs themselves on the day as well. The Terps offense had a rare off day as well making the game one to forget for Terps fans. Luke Shliger, Matt Woods, and Lambros brought in the Terps only runs on the day. The Terps had ten his and drew four walks but were simply not able to drive in many base runners.

The Terps will host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for their Big Ten home opening series of the season. Rutgers is 15-13 overall and 1-2 in conference play after losing their three-game series against Michigan State last week after dropping the first two games but winning the last game. The Scarlet Knights enter Friday 39th in the country in batting average with .305. Rutgers also score 7.57 runs per game. The Terps enter the weekend with a .293 batting average and score 8.4 runs per game which is 37th in the country. Both teams have an ERA north of five so it is safe to expect quite a bit of offense over the weekend in College Park.

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