Two Sundays ago, Kyle McCoy allowed just one run in three innings of work against Maine. One Sunday ago, the freshman hurled five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no runs.
After being used as a long reliever and a short starter to begin the year, McCoy seemed to be establishing himself as a mainstay in coach Rob Vaughn’s rotation.
That trend continued on Sunday.
The 6-foot-5 left-hander didn’t allow a baserunner until the fifth inning and ended up throwing his second consecutive shutout in another remarkable outing.
Vaughn has been searching for a reliable third starter behind Jason Savacool and Nick Dean. With the way McCoy has been dealing and with Dean’s season-long struggles –– including a four-earned run performance Saturday night –– Vaughn may be forced to bump the youngster up to the No. 2 spot in his rotation at some point.
“[McCoy] just attacked the zone,” Vaughn said. “He did a good job of mixing pitches…he landed [all] three pitches for strikes, and just lots of weak contact. You couldn’t ask for a better start from a young pup on a Sunday in a big game for us.”
After using two relievers on Friday and three more on Saturday, McCoy gave the bullpen a much-needed rest, eating up eight scoreless innings.
Maryland baseball’s offense, while not up to the 16-run standards of Saturday, got the job done with eight runs en route to an 8-6 series-clinching win over UCF in Orlando.
Both teams went down routinely in the first frame, with McCoy striking out the second and third batters in the UCF order. UCF’s starter, left-hander Jacob Marlowe, worked swiftly through Maryland’s top of the order as well, retiring the side in order with a groundout and two flyouts.
The pitcher’s duel continued through the third inning with both sides once again going down one-two-three. While Marlowe only struck out one in the first three frames, the sophomore induced soft contact early on from Maryland’s hitters.
“I thought early, [Marlowe] and Kyle were kind of going pitch for pitch and matching each other,” Vaughn said.
But then the Terps offense struck in the top of the fourth.
Junior catcher Luke Shliger led things off with a walk. Junior shortstop Matt Shaw followed up with a one-out single, and fifth-year right fielder Matt Woods advanced Shliger home with another single down the right field line.
That was it for the damage as senior left fielder Bobby Zmarzlak and junior second baseman Kevin Keister were both retired with two runners on base, keeping Maryland’s lead at one.
McCoy continued his dominance in the fourth and fifth frames, not allowing his first hit until a two-out single in the bottom of the fifth.
One particular Maryland bat added run support in the latter innings. After crushing a ball 418 feet last night for a no-doubt homer, Shaw sent two more over the left field fence in the sixth and eighth frames for his seventh and eighth home runs of the year.
“Obviously Shaw was outstanding today,” Vaughn said. “Sometimes your best player’s gotta be your best player, and he was the best guy on the field today.”
Shaw appears to be hitting his stride at just the right spot with Big Ten play opening up in the next few weeks. The junior’s batting average is up to .319, and he was responsible for five of the Terps’ eight total runs on Sunday.
The Terps added two more in the eighth following Shaw’s homer as Woods scored on a wild pitch and sophomore center fielder Jacob Orr brought home sophomore designated hitter Ian Petrutz on a single.
Maryland put together four total runs in the eighth to take a 7-0 lead, before adding one more off the bat of Shaw in the ninth.
“I felt like the offense really functioned as the pack,” Vaughn said. “I kind of challenged them. I didn’t think we’d really done that all year up until yesterday…we’ve been the team that has a couple good at bats, blows up an inning…then takes three innings off.”
Redshirt junior right-hander David Falco Jr. came in to relieve McCoy in the bottom half of the ninth. Falco recorded just one out on 33 pitches, allowing two runs before redshirt sophomore right-hander Nigel Belgrave took the mound.
Belgrave inherited a bases-loaded one-out jam. In his first at bat, freshman shortstop Drew Faurot smashed a ball over the left field fence for a grand slam.
With the Knights suddenly down just two runs, Belgrave shut the door, recording the final two outs and giving Maryland its third straight series victory.
Vaughn said Saturday night’s 16-run shellacking was his club’s most complete offensive showing of the season. Sunday’s masterclass by McCoy may have been the most complete performance by a Maryland pitcher all year long.
“I texted [McCoy] last Sunday after he threw and he was really good,” Vaughn said. “We were still kind of limiting him, and I just told him ‘It’s time to take the governor off and let you run a little bit.’ And goodness gracious, he was outstanding.”
