Maryland baseball fends off late UCF rally to take series finale, 8-6

Maryland baseball junior shortstop Matt Shaw stepped as much as the plate within the eighth inning already having hit a house run, however that didn’t imply that his work was performed.

With senior third baseman Nick Lorusso on first base resulting from an error, Shaw eyed up a pitch from UCF junior right-handed pitcher Chase Centala and smashed it deep to heart discipline for his second two-run homer of the day, extending Maryland’s result in 5-0.

Shaw’s two homers made it arduous for the Knights to have an opportunity, as freshman left-handed pitcher Kyle McCoy’s 9 strikeouts in eight shutout innings silenced the house workforce’s bats. Regardless of their relievers struggling to place UCF away, the Terps (14-9) rode McCoy and Shaw’s performances to an 8-6 win on Sunday to assert the weekend collection in opposition to UCF (16-8).

It was an incredible day for Maryland’s hitters, and Shaw led the way in which with 5 RBIs. Freshman outfielder Jacob Orr, fifth-year outfielder Matt Woods and Lorusso every had a number of hits to offer help.

The pitching ended up being a wild experience for the Terps, because the Knights almost mounted a miraculous comeback within the ninth. Whereas McCoy shut UCF out by eight innings, the duo of redshirt junior right-handed pitcher David Falco Jr. and redshirt sophomore right-handed pitcher Nigel Belgrave gave up six runs within the ninth, together with a grand slam from freshman infielder Drew Faurot.

However finally, Belgrave compelled two outs to finish the ninth — regardless of letting the tying run come to the plate — to save lots of Maryland from what would’ve been a surprising loss.

On a blazing scorching Sunday in Orlando, each pitchers began out the sport impressively, making a battle between two end-of-the-weekend freshman starters fascinating.

McCoy was throwing the sport of his life to start out the afternoon. Via the primary three innings, he had 4 strikeouts and allowed no hits, because the Knights simply couldn’t course of what he was dealing.

Knights freshman pitcher Jacob Marlowe solely had one strikeout by the primary three innings, however he solely gave up one hit, because the Terps went by the order the primary time with out scoring.

As Maryland’s batting order reset within the fourth, the massive hitters got here again to the plate and the workforce began to catch on to what Marlowe was throwing.

Junior catcher Luke Shliger walked to start out, adopted by a single from Shaw which gave the Terps runners on first and second with one out. Then, Woods stepped up and hit an RBI single to convey Shliger dwelling and get Maryland on the board first. Marlowe cleaned up the remainder of the inning with a strikeout and a groundout.

McCoy stored on dealing, closing out the inning with out giving up a success and tallying his fifth strikeout of the day.

After an uneventful fifth, the highest of the sixth was when Maryland began to tug away from the Knights. Following a Lorusso single, Shaw stepped as much as the plate and launched a deep fly ball past the left-center discipline wall to provide the Terps their first multiple-run lead of the afternoon, going up 3-0.

When Maryland’s offense began to click on, the protection did too, with McCoy nonetheless pitching at a excessive stage. Within the sixth and the seventh innings, the beginning pitcher added two extra strikeouts and allowed simply two hits.

The closest that UCF acquired to scoring off McCoy was when redshirt senior outfielder John Rhys Plumlee superior to 3rd on a steal and a sacrifice bunt within the sixth, however McCoy compelled a flyout to finish the inning.

Within the high of the eighth inning, Maryland’s offense exploded in opposition to UCF’s relievers to seemingly put the sport away. Shaw’s two-run shot acquired issues began, after which Woods scored from third on a wild pitch and Orr hit an RBI single to heart discipline to make it 7-0.

McCoy stored it going within the backside of the eighth, including two extra strikeouts and a flyout to cap off an exceptional exhibiting.

Shaw added an RBI double within the ninth which closed the scoring for Maryland. The Knights refused to go away and added six runs within the backside half of the inning off Maryland’s bullpen, however couldn’t convey the tying run dwelling.

The Terps will probably be again at it on Tuesday to tackle native rival Georgetown earlier than starting Huge Ten play in opposition to Iowa subsequent weekend.

Three issues to know

1. McCoy’s breakout efficiency was the spotlight. Maryland’s Sunday starter spot hasn’t been pinned down this season, with the departure of Ryan Ramsey leaving a void within the beginning rotation. However on Sunday, McCoy seemed like a more-than-viable alternative. He threw a career-high eight innings and had 9 strikeouts for the Terps, solely permitting three hits and no runs. He may assist Maryland tremendously heading into convention play.

2. Shaw stored his current kind going. Coming into this season as one of many highest-touted gamers on the workforce, the junior shortstop has had durations this season the place he’s struggled, going seven video games with out an RBI towards the beginning of this yr. However just lately, this hasn’t been the case; Shaw has a mixed 13 RBIs and 5 homers in his final seven video games. It’s vital for Maryland to get him scorching to have success.

3. Maryland received one other collection. Given its success final season, it was a letdown when Maryland misplaced seven of its first 11 video games this season. However just lately, the workforce’s good kind has been bringing hope again to Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. This win marked the Terps’ third straight collection win, a much-needed rebound now that convention play is about to start out subsequent weekend. With Iowa arising on the schedule, it’s time for head coach Rob Vaughn’s squad to point out what it’s manufactured from.