Two weeks ago, Maryland began its six-game loss streak after falling 7-5 against Richmond. That streak ended after a 6-4 victory over No. 12 USC on Saturday. The run rule cut half of the Terps’ games short during their skid.
But on Tuesday, Maryland found itself on the other end of a blowout.
Maryland dominated Richmond 19-4 on Tuesday at The Bob during the teams’ second meeting this season — the Terps recorded four home runs and outhit the Spiders, 17-5.
“Going all the way back to UCLA, I’m super happy
with the offensive effort, the ability to battle through some really tough teams, and do really well offensively,” said head coach Matt Swope. “I know the results haven’t been there, with only one win, but I was happy with that and challenging them a little bit for next man up with what we got going on.”
Terps right-handed pitcher Nic Morlang threw a total of four strikeouts — three came in the first inning. Still, the Spiders grabbed an early one-run lead in the top of the first after an RBI double by Evan Wilson.
Maryland’s five-run first inning began with a perfect bunt by junior Brayden Martin that was followed by a walk, and a sacrifice bunt by Ty Kaunas who still reached first after an error by Richmond pitcher Aaron Van Tuyle.
“When I bunted, I thought it was foul,” Martin said. “That was probably one of the best bunts I’ve done so far.”
Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Paul Jones II and Rylen Stockton allowed two more runs to score for the Terps. After Bud Coombs was walked, sophomore Jackson Sirois notched his second home run of the season, a two-run shot that quickly followed his first with Maryland against USC on Saturday.
The Spiders tried to catch up to the Terps in the second inning, getting runners on second and third with a sacrifice bunt. Morlang claimed his fourth strikeout of the game, but Michael Elko slammed a two-run RBI to right field to make it a 5-3 game.
Maryland extended its lead in the bottom of the second. With the bases loaded off two singles and a walk, Richmond put in its second pitcher of the game. The Spiders fielded the first two outs but were no match for the next batter.
Jones II walked up to the plate and crushed the ball. His 430-foot home run cleared the highest part of the center field wall.
Right-handed pitcher Andrew Koshy took over the mound in the top of the third. The junior went three up, three down to keep the inning short.
The Terps brought in another run in the bottom of the third with an RBI double by Brayden Martin. Then, with freshman Ty Kaunas’ walk, every Terp had reached base by the third inning.
“We’ve seen the best of the best, the No. 1 team in the country, we felt like we hit pretty well,” Martin said. “Some things didn’t go our way, but I think we know that we’re a pretty good team, and if we finish out and keep playing the baseball we were playing, we can go pretty far later in the year.”
In the fourth inning, Maryland was unstoppable. Koshy only allowed one run — the Spiders’ last of the game — and recorded one strikeout, but the Terps’ bats kept rolling. They forced Richmond to cycle through three pitchers in the inning — and saw nine total by the sixth.
After Stockton struck out, Bud Coombs walked and stole second. Three walks brought him all the way home.
Jordan Crosland blasted a two-run RBI to shallow center field, which was followed by an RBI single by Kaunas through left center. Jones II and Stockton both notched RBI singles as well. This gave Maryland an 11-run lead only four innings in.
Right-handed pitcher Cristofer Cespedes relieved Koshy in the fifth and recorded the Terps’ second 1-2-3 inning.
Meanwhile, a home run by Russell and an RBI double by Kaunas in the bottom of the fifth further extended Maryland’s lead to 17-4.
Typical Friday night starter Lance Williams made an appearance in the sixth inning, taking over for Cespedes. A ground out and double play ended the inning quickly.
“It was actually his idea to want to get out there,” said Swope. “I’m glad he could kind of bounce back from last Friday and just feel comfortable and get in the zone and move on from here on Friday.”
Logan Hastings took over for Williams in the top of the seventh, keeping the Spiders scoreless and causing the run-rule to come into effect, ending the game in the seventh inning.
“We just have to play better baseball collectively now and obviously win some games in conference to put ourselves in a better position,” Swope said.
Three things to know
1. Martin shines. The junior leads the Terps with a .381 batting average with 43 hits — four on Tuesday — and 31 runs. Martin made his way onto base every time during his five at bats on Tuesday, tallying four hits and one walk.
2. Season-high in hits. Maryland recorded 17 hits on Tuesday, its most so far this season — its previous high was 15 on Feb. 28 against Wagner. During that game, the Terps recorded their most RBIs in a game with 21, and they recorded their second-most on Tuesday with 19.
3. Pitching held its own. Maryland has allowed an average of roughly 15 runs per game throughout the last two weeks. On Tuesday, it only allowed four, the last one coming in the fourth inning. The Terps also recorded nine strikeouts — their most since last Tuesday against No. 10 Virginia.
