With six runs already across in the top of the sixth inning, Kevin Keister was still hungry for more.
The junior second baseman, who crushed two homers against UMBC on Tuesday, already had one on the day against Georgetown with a solo shot in the third inning.
But he didn’t stop there, as with the bases loaded, Keister smoked a ball over the fence in right-center field, rounding the bases and crossing home for his fourth homer in two days.
Keister’s bomb gave Maryland baseball (27-15) a 15-3 lead, and it closed things out from there, cruising past Georgetown (23-19) for a 16-3 win in a seven-inning mercy rule victory.
The Terps carried the offensive momentum from their 24-run outburst against the Retrievers into their battle with the Hoyas, crushing seven more home runs from six different bats.
They smashed four of them — two solo shots and two two-RBI blasts — in the third inning off the bats of Keister, Matt Shaw, Matt Woods and Elijah Lambros, giving Maryland an early 6-0 lead.
Shaw’s two-run homer set the Maryland program home run record; it was his 15th of the season and the 44th of his career.
After Maryland’s six-run top half of the third, Georgetown loaded the bases in the bottom half and scored following a balk by Ryan Van Buren. Van Buren struck out the next batter, junior right fielder Jake Hyde, with two outs, avoiding any further damage in the inning.
Junior first baseman Christian Ficca hit a solo shot in the fourth off of Van Buren, cutting the Hoya deficit to four runs, 6-2.
Van Buren ultimately worked through four frames, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four. It was the longest outing of the season for the sophomore right-hander.
Junior left-hander Tommy Kane replaced Van Buren in the bottom of the fifth.
Kane struggled heavily with his command, allowing a leadoff home run to sophomore catcher Owen Carapellotti before pegging and walking the next two batters. He settled in and worked out of the no-out jam after that, leaving the frame with just the one run allowed.
Leading 6-3 heading into the sixth inning, the Terps exploded for a nine-run frame in which they smashed three home runs.
The action started with sophomore utilityman Jacob Orr, who hit a leadoff homer to left, his second of the year. After Keister was hit by a pitch, junior catcher Luke Shliger joined in on the action with a two-run shot. Sophomore first baseman Eddie Hacopian singled while Bobby Zmarzlak and Orr walked, setting the stage for Keister once again.
The junior took full advantage, clearing the bases with a grand slam to right-center field. The homer was the fourth in the last two days for Keister, as he had two against the Retrievers on Tuesday.
By the end of the inning, Maryland held a 15-3 advantage over the Hoyas. Seven of its first 10 hits were home runs as the group continued to crush baseballs in tune with its recent hot stretch.
The Terps put one more run on the board in the seventh courtesy of a Woods RBI double play.
Sophomore left-hander Andrew Johnson put the final touches on the game in the sixth and seventh frames with two shutout innings, and the Terps and Hoyas called the game after seven innings in a mercy rule beatdown.
Maryland put up a combined 40 runs in its two weekend games against the Hoyas and the Retrievers, exploding offensively with 11 home runs.
The Terps now turn their attention to Friday as they gear up for a critical weekend series with conference seeding implications against Indiana in Bloomington.
