Maryland baseball reliever Cristofer Cespedes faced UNC Wilmington third baseman Lucas Trevor with just one out left in the bottom of the ninth inning. Outfielder John Newton led off first base, preparing to advance to second.
Trevor swung at the first pitch, sending the ball bouncing toward shortstop Ty Kaunas. The standout freshman thought on his feet and tossed it to second baseman David Mendez, who completed the force out.
Kaunas and Mendez’s teamwork sealed the deal on the Dirty Terps’ first win
of the season, 5-3, over the Seahawks.
Lance Williams began his pitching debut as a Terp with a bang. The sophomore East Carolina transfer posted a pair of strikeouts in the first inning and notched four more over the course of his five frames.
“He was pounding the zone,” head coach Matt Swope said. “Lance is a dog, and that’s why we went and got him.”
Freshman Ryan Costello recorded the first base hit of the game in the top of the second inning. But Rylen Stockton and Aden Hill’s at-bats were fruitless, leaving Costello on base with nothing to show for it.
In the bottom of the inning, Seahawk Jake Bechtel scored from second base on a single by shortstop Kevin Jones, giving Wilmington the first lead of the game.
Maryland’s first run of the season came from sophomore Jackson Sirois. The Virginia transfer was hit by Seahawks pitcher Connor Marshburn, and ultimately made it home on a passed ball to score Maryland’s first run of the season.
Junior Brayden Martin singled to center field, narrowly stole second base and made it to third on a passed ball. With two outs and the count full, Kaunas looked to bring him home. But the freshman struck out swinging, sending Martin back to the dugout in a 1-1 game.
Aden Hill came to the plate with runners on first and third and one out in the top of the fourth. A ground ball to first base meant Stockton was thrown out at second, but there was no play back at first. Crosland scored easily to take the Terps’ first lead of the afternoon.
Williams picked off a Seahawk on first base to end the inning.
Stockton’s 392-foot drive to left-center field marked Maryland’s first home run of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time with his team needing insurance runs in the top of the sixth.
In the bottom of the inning, sophomore Cristofer Cespedes took the mound to relieve Williams — he remained there for the rest of the contest.
With one out left in the frame, the Seahawks began to bounce back. An RBI double closed the gap to just one run.
But Maryland doubled its lead once again after a wild pitch from Wilmington freshman Clay Masonis scored Brayden Martin. The junior Bowie native’s play on the diamond set a strong foundation to build off for the rest of the season — he finished 2 for 4 with a walk and a steal.
“[Martin’s] just steady,” Swope said. “He’s just somebody who’s going to anchor the lineup, no matter where he’s playing, no matter what he’s doing.”
Crosland walked to conclude the at-bat that Martin scored. On the next, Costello’s RBI double down the first base line drove him in and widened Maryland’s lead to three.
Cespedes kept the Seahawks on their toes in relief. He posted five strikeouts in only four innings — including back-to-back ones in the bottom of the seventh inning — although he allowed six hits.
The Terps’ outfielders contributed heavily to their success. In the bottom of the eighth, center fielder Antonio Morales and Martin each snagged flyouts. After another strikeout by Cespedes, the Seahawks remained scoreless for consecutive innings.
Newton drove in Kevin Jones on a single to right field in the ninth, but that wasn’t enough. Kaunas and Mendez’s work in the field stopped the Seahawks from scoring another run, putting the Terps in the win column to start the season.
Three things to know:
1. Cespedes couldn’t lose the zone. Cespedes’ outing out of the bullpen was as efficient as it gets. Those four innings came without any walks, and were completed in just 34 pitches — with a whopping 32 of those strikes.
2. Top-heavy production. Four of Maryland’s nine batters had two-hit games, making up eight of the team’s 10 total hits.
3. Homefield disadvantage. Friday marks the Terps’ tenth victory against the Seahawks. Every single game has been played in North Carolina.
