Six-run eighth inning propels Maryland baseball to 12-6 win over UMBC

Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics | @TerpsBaseball

Maryland snapped a three-game losing streak.

Maryland baseball needed a bounce-back game after a winless weekend, and it hoped to break its cold spell in College Park on Tuesday against UMBC.

The Retrievers fought all evening, with a two-run double tying the game in the top of the eighth inning. In the bottom half of the inning, the Terps took the lead on a double by Nick Lorusso, and were able to score another and load the bases with several walks. With a two-run lead, Matt Woods hit a perfectly-placed ball down the right-field line, clearing the bases to break the game open.

That monster, six-run eighth inning was enough to give the Terps a 12-6 win and snap their three-game losing streak. They improved to 5-7 on the season.

Starting on the mound for the Terps was freshman southpaw Kyle McCoy, making his second collegiate start after recently blowing a save in relief against Vanderbilt. After McCoy started and pitched a scoreless inning in last week’s midweek game against Delaware, he was immediately removed for Logan Ott in the second inning. It initially seemed like that was the plan for Tuesday’s game, but McCoy got some extra work.

After two perfect innings from McCoy, the Retrievers struck first. In the top of the third, McCoy gave up a hit and a walk, which led to an RBI single from Christian Easley. With runners at the corners, McCoy then attempted a pickoff, and while Easley attempted to steal second, Dawson Baracani took off for home. Both runners reached safely, bringing in a second run for UMBC.

Maryland threatened to strike back in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases with a hit and two walks. Matt Shaw hit a hard line drive, but it was caught by the shortstop and a mistake by Luke Shliger on the base paths turned it into a double play.

After a pitching change, Maryland managed to load the bases again. This time, they took advantage of the loaded bases and tied the game with a two-RBI single by Kevin Keister. The rally continued, as singles by Eddie Hacopian and Woods brought in two more runs, and a balk by UMBC pitcher Evan Selmer brought in the Terps’ fifth and final run of the third inning.

With a 5-2 lead, McCoy was kept in the game by Maryland head coach Rob Vaughn, and he promptly pitched another perfect inning to keep the Retrievers at bay. In the first multi-inning start of his collegiate career, McCoy threw four innings — three of which were perfect.

In the bottom of the fourth, Shaw hit a double that brought in Lorusso for Maryland’s sixth run, and the Terps loaded the bases with a chance blow the game open. But, they stranded the bases loaded, as Hacopian struck out.

UMBC’s Matt Clarke and Rob Dorn picked up five strikeouts in four innings of combined relief, while the Terps were only able to pick up two strikeouts total.

Ott relieved McCoy in the fifth, and just an inning later UMBC answered. Leewood Molessa blasted a ball to left-center field, a two-run homer that cut the Retrievers’ deficit to two. And after a scoreless seventh inning, Molessa collected two more RBIs with a clutch eighth-inning double, tying the game at six.

With the game even, Maryland didn’t look back. A Lorusso double brought in Elijah Lambros to take the lead back early in the bottom of the eighth, and two walks and a hit by pitch by UMBC right-handed pitcher Sam Daniels brought the Maryland lead to two. Woods came up to the plate facing the bases loaded and hit a bases-clearing triple, giving the Terps a five-run lead. A Hacopian RBI single gave the Terps another insurance run.

That was too much damage for the Retrievers to recover from, and Ott closed out his second pitching win of the year.

Three things to know

1. Lots of contact for both teams. Maryland tallied 12 hits and twelve runs, which is impressive, but bats were heard all game for both teams. Both Ott and McCoy were only able to get one strikeout apiece. For McCoy, Vaughn pointed out that he was able to induce weak contact all game, and for Ott, the wind definitely saved a few balls from sailing out of the park.

2. McCoy seeing more innings. Kyle McCoy was able to pitch four innings in Tuesday’s win, throwing three perfect innings and one that he gave up two runs in. McCoy is a key piece in Maryland’s future, and seeing him get more innings in collegiate baseball is a good sign for things to come.

3. Woods got his first big hit as a Terp. Matt Woods’ three-RBI triple broke open the game for the Terps, who were battling all the way down to the eighth inning. The graduate transfer came to the Terps as a key bat that was set to replace some of the pieces that the Terps lost to the professional ranks, and his first big hit was one that was able to seal a win.

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