Three weeks ago, Maryland baseball defeated Towson, 15-7, aided by five Terps drawing walks in the bottom of the eighth with the bases loaded. In Tuesday’s contest, Maryland’s offense again stayed patient when necessary, recording six runs — a quarter of its overall scoring — via walks.
Maryland dominated Towson, 23-11, on Tuesday at Brooks Robinson Field in the second matchup between the two squads. The eight-inning victory marked the Terps’ highest-scoring game this season.
Maryland led the Big Ten
in walks with 294 entering Tuesday’s contest and quickly expanded that lead. After two grounders in the top of the first, redshirt freshman Ryan Costello and junior David Mendez earned walks before sophomore Paul Jones II was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Then, freshman Bud Coombs launched his fifth home run of the season over the right field fence, notching his first collegiate grand slam.
The Terps collected six more runs in the top of the second inning, the first of which came off of three straight walks that ended Towson starter Jake Michel’s day.
Towson left-hander Vincent Salvo took the mound and only threw four pitches to Costello before the redshirt freshman blasted his 15th home run and fourth grand slam of the season. Three pitches later, Mendez smashed his ninth homer of the season.
That gave the Terps a 10-run lead heading into the bottom of the second — but there, Towson cut the deficit in half.
Back-to-back singles and a fly out led to Max D’Alessandro stealing second as Keldrin Rodriguez scored on a wild pitch. D’Alessandro came home off a single by Frank Adamski Jr., who soon advanced to second on an error by center fielder Nate Hawton-Henley. AJ Kolb then knocked a two-run single before stealing second.
After a single to left placed runners on the corners once again, a single to right by Nich Francuzenko brought in the Tigers’ fifth run of the frame. Sophomore right-hander Ryan Bailey entered the game and finally closed out the inning for Maryland.
The run fest continued, though. Towson’s third pitcher, Ben Nugent, walked three straight batters to load the bases. Costello hit a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing home Devin Russell, and Jones knocked in another run to make the score 12-5.
Bailey held strong on the mound in the third inning but allowed a two-run RBI double to right center by Brady Nathison in the fourth. The Terps immediately responded with their 13th run following a bases-loaded balk by right-hander Nick Karls.
Towson closed Maryland’s lead to three in the bottom of the fifth when Jake Yeager took the mound for Bailey. On a full count, Tigers first baseman Josh Janove took Yeager deep on a solo shot to left field.
Two walks and a single loaded the bases as redshirt junior James Gladden quickly replaced Yeager. Two successive wild pitches brought in two runs before Gladden caught a pop-up to end the inning.
Four more Terps crossed the plate in the top of the sixth – each occurring with the bases loaded.
Towson looked for a reply in the bottom of the sixth when Francuzenko raced home from second base on a single. Left fielder Jordan Crosland grabbed the ball and launched it to Russell, who recorded the out to keep the Tigers away.
The walks continued for the Terps in the seventh inning. Towson put in its sixth pitcher of the game to no avail — despite not recording a hit in the frame, the Terps trotted in three runs, making it a 20-10 game.
Junior left-hander Landon Edwards stepped to the mound for Gladden in the bottom of the seventh and attempted to contain the Tigers to enact the run-rule.
On his first pitch, third baseman Ethan Brand pummeled a home run to left center to close Maryland’s lead to nine runs, temporarily saving Towson from a premature defeat.
The game didn’t last much longer, though, as Maryland took a 12-run lead in the top of the eighth, bringing in three runs. Lance Williams took the mound in the bottom of the inning. Williams closed out the midweek game throwing consecutive strikeouts while only allowing one hit to end the contest in eight innings.
Three things to know:
1. Stolen bases central. Maryland stole six bases on Tuesday — its most since April 24 against Michigan State. Prior to the contest, Maryland ranked third in the Big Ten with 68 stolen bases. Crosland produced three of the Terps’ stolen bags.
2. Walking the line. The Terps’ offense recorded a season-high 22 walks against Towson. Brayden Martin earned four free passes throughout the contest, extending his Big Ten-leading mark.
3. Home run derby. A grand slam from a freshman and back-to-back home runs helped accelerate Maryland’s offense, allowing it to snag a 10-run lead by the top of the second inning. The Terps notched their most RBIs in a single game, with Costello recording seven and Coombs driving in five.
