Maryland baseball handles Towson, 15-7, behind eight run eighth

Photo courtesy of Norah Copenhaver/Maryland Athletics.

With the game tied going into the bottom of the eighth, Maryland baseball put together a wild frame. 

It involved eight walks, two hits, two stolen bases, and a catcher on the mound – and ended with eight Terps runs.

Maryland (18-19, 4-11 B1G) pushed past Towson (15-19, 4-14 CAA), 15-7, after a pitching collapse from the Tigers in the eighth inning.

“My number one thing is swing decisions,” said head coach Matt Swope. “If you’re disciplined at the plate and don’t swing at balls you will be in college baseball games.”

The Terps were coming off their first Big Ten series win of the season, taking two games against Indiana last weekend. This makes three wins in a row for Maryland – the first time the Terps have done that since their five game win streak at the end of February.

Jake Michel took the mound first for Towson. The righty came into the game with his longest outing being two innings on the season. 

After a clean first inning, Michel struggled with control in the second. The redshirt senior hit two Terps to lead off the inning and walked a third, loading the bases with no outs.

Aden Hill grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored the runner from third base to get Maryland on the board. 

The Terps had runners at all three stations again in the fifth inning, but a fly out stranded them. 

David Mendez made up for a run scoring fielding error in the third with a two out, three run homer in the bottom of the inning, cutting into Towson’s lead. The junior has hit home runs in back-to-back games – he had a solo shot in the win against Indiana on April 12.

“We like to talk about separating the defense and the offense,” Mendez said. “You got to flush that right away, I did that…then focused on hitting.”

Freshman Ty Kaunas had a two out home run as well – his came in the next inning, tying the game up at 6-6. That brought his season RBI total to 31, good for the team’s second best mark. 

Nic Morlang got the midweek start for Maryland. His last outing was a six-inning shutout against UMBC – he didn’t find the same success against the Tigers, lasting only two innings and allowing five runs. Towson was able to get to the Terps’ pitching early and often, tallying six runs in the first three innings. 

Both teams had a number of passed balls throughout the game, but Towson was hurt more by them. A routine groundout became a single when Martin sent a ball under the glove of the Towson shortstop, and he later took third when a poor pickoff found its way to center field. A sacrifice fly sent Martin home, giving Maryland its first lead of the game.

The Tigers tied the game on a Terps error when a routine throw was rifled past Paul Jones II at first. 

Maryland reclaimed the lead in the eighth after Hill crossed home – his second run of the game. The experienced outfielder didn’t record a hit, but still crossed home twice and added an RBI.

Brayden Martin showed his speed on the base paths, stealing second and third on consecutive pitches to get another Terp in scoring position. Jones didn’t waste it. The first baseman rocketed a ball into the right field wall for an RBI double, doubling Maryland’s lead.

That was just the beginning for the Terps in the eighth. After loading the bases, five consecutive walks stretched the Maryland lead to 14-7. A sacrifice fly notched the final run of an eight run inning. 

Strong relief performances were key to the Terps’ victory. Andrew Koshy relieved Morlang and had three clean innings, allowing no earned runs and only three hits. Jake Yeager and Ryan Bailey covered the last four innings, allowing only one run – unearned – and a single hit. 

“Really the turning point was Koshy being able to come in early on and kind of stabilize it for us,” Swope said.

Maryland next heads to Iowa for a three-game series with the Hawkeyes starting on April 17.