Photo courtesy of University of Maryland Athletics
The Terps could do nothing against James Madison’s bullpen through four innings, stringing together ten consecutive outs before Elijah Lambros broke the cold streak in the fifth. Lambros’ double helped spark a three-run inning, giving the Terps a lead they never relinquished.
Backed by a three-run fifth inning, Maryland (7-5) downed James Madison (5-7) 8-4 for its 800th home win in program history at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium on Tuesday.
Taking the mound for the Terps was freshman pitcher Jake Yeager. The right-hander entered the season as Perfect Game’s No. 1 ranked player in the state of Maryland but struggled in his first-ever collegiate start. Yeager surrendered five runs on three hits, earning himself a loss against the Delaware Blue Hens.
But the freshman turned in a markedly different performance on Tuesday compared to his previous start. Yeager struggled with his control in his last outing, but it was stellar against James Madison.
“I think the biggest difference [between starts] is just mistake pitches,” Yeager said. “If you make a mistake here, you’re gonna pay for it.”
Yeager consistently stayed ahead in counts, allowing him to finish the games with just one run on one hit and three strikeouts through five innings pitched.
“Watching our weekend rotation has helped me a lot,” Yeager said. “Those guys, they don’t make a whole lot of mistakes, so learning from them helps a lot.”
While Maryland’s bats were stifled by James Madison’s pitching in the early innings, Yeager’s performance on the mound allowed Maryland’s offense to break through in the middle frames.
Heading into the fifth inning, the Dukes had retired ten consecutive Maryland batters. But Lambros broke the streak with a stand-up double, starting a three-run inning that later scored Eddie Hacopian and Colin Gibbs.
Alex Calarco gave the Terps a three-run lead in the fifth inning with a double and continued to pad to Maryland’s lead two innings later.
With a runner on first and one out, Calarco got a pitch over the heart of the plate. The senior flipped his bat as he belted his team-leading eight home run of the season, giving Maryland a 6-1 lead.
There was confusion following the play when Dukes’ manager Marlin Ikenberry challenged the call, claiming Calarco did not touch home plate, but with no replay available, the call stood.
“I did [touch home],” Calarco said, “I did with my heel, I’ve got a size 15 foot.”
Just an inning later, Hacopian knocked in two runs with a hard grounder that hugged the left-field line. It scored Gibbs for the second time in the contest and gave Maryland a commanding 8-3 lead.
James Madison was not shy of utilizing its entire bullpen, throwing nine different pitchers. Maryland struggled in the early frames to adapt to the different pitcher each inning. It was not until James Madison reached its fifth pitcher that Maryland broke the stalemate, with three pitchers giving up five of the Dukes’ runs.
The Terps will now stay in College Park as they prepare for a conference play. Maryland will host Big Ten newcomer UCLA in a three-game series starting Friday.
