Maryland baseball overwhelms UMBC in 11-0 drubbing

Photo courtesy of Jason Yellin/Maryland Terrapins.

Maryland baseball led the Big Ten in walks allowed with 175 coming into Tuesday’s game. The Terps gave out just two free passes in their midweek contest against UMBC – one of their cleanest pitching performances of the season.

Maryland (14-18, 2-10 B1G) dominated the inter-state contest against UMBC (16-11, 5-1 America East), winning 11-0 in seven innings.

Nic Morlang got the start for the Terps. This was the seventh start of his freshman season – his first since Maryland’s game with Richmond on March 31.

The right-hander almost went the distance, pitching six innings for the Terps – he gave up five hits on the game and shut out the Retrievers. Morlang consistently got ahead in counts, forcing batters to swing outside the zone and often generating weak contact. 

The Retrievers got their first runners into scoring position in the fifth inning, putting runners on second and third with one out after an infield single and a double. Morlang recorded his second strikeout of the game to get within one out of escaping the jam, then escaped with a groundout to second – David Mendez made an impressive backhand pick and a strong throw to end the inning. 

The only other time Maryland was threatened was in the bottom of the seventh. Morlang walked one and gave up a base hit to put two runners on with no outs – ending his night.

Sophomore Ryan Bailey took over in the seventh, looking to keep the zero on the board. A wild pitch moved both runners to scoring position, but Bailey proceeded to strike out two and force a fly out to end the game.

Sergio Droz started at pitcher for UMBC. The right-hander came into the game with 13 innings pitched and no outings longer than three innings.

The Terps had consistent early looks on offense, stranding two runners in the first inning and immediately getting runners in scoring position in the second.

Mendez would break through for Maryland, with a single that scored sophomore Jackson Sirois. 

Another single put two runners on base, and sophomore Jordan Crosland cleaned the diamond with a three run homer – his eighth of the season, giving Maryland a 4-0 lead.

Crosland is in the midst of the strongest stretch of play in his season, hitting five home runs and recording 17 RBIs over the month of March.

Droz was on a pitch count of 40 and was pulled after the second inning – Aidan Boice took over on the mound with his team trailing by four.

The Terps added on with sophomore catcher Rylen Stockton, who pulled a two-run home run over the fence in left. 

Maryland had a chance to do more damage in the third with the bases loaded. Junior Brayden Martin worked a walk to bring another runner home, extending the lead to 7-0. A ground ball ended the inning with the Terps leaving three on base.

Martin got on base all day, walking in three of his first four appearances.

The Terps loaded the bases again after three consecutive UMBC walks in the sixth. A single from freshman Colin Gibbs scored one and kept runners at each station. The RBI single was Gibbs fourth run batted in on the season – he’d add another in the seventh.

Back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning, with Maryland leaving the bases loaded again.

Consecutive knocks off the outfield fence with runners on scored two more for the Terps in the seventh, growing the lead to 10-0. Freshman shortstop Ty Kaunas was responsible for one of those RBIs, bringing his season total to 27 – the second best mark on the team, trailing only fellow freshman Ryan Costello.

Maryland’s next game is against Navy on Wednesday in Annapolis. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.