The vibes at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium were drastically different a week ago than on Wednesday.
After letting go of the rope in an extra-inning dogfight against Georgetown last Wednesday, Maryland baseball had suffered its second-straight home midweek loss. The Terps lost by 10 runs to William & Mary the week prior.
But against James Madison, Elijah Lambros put the cherry on top of a Maryland masterclass with his second home run of the night to give his team its 18th run. The sophomore blasted a ball over the left field wall, waiting for the ball to land on the turf practice fields behind the stadium before dramatically flipping his bat and trotting around the bases to a celebratory light show.
The Terps (23-14) responded in a big way to their previous midweek struggles, picking up two wins in as many days. They went to Arlington, Va. and defeated George Washington 15-8 on Tuesday before returning to College Park and downing James Madison (20-16) 19-12 on Wednesday, getting the two miserable losses they had suffered right back.
“I just thought it was a really impressive response by the offense,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “That’s what those boys are capable of. We kind of had some ebbs and flows throughout the year. There’s days we’ve been really good, there’s days we’ve been really bad, but there’s no better time to get hot.”
The Dukes put up a three-spot on three hits in the opening inning. After a four-pitch walk and a single to start things off, both runners crossed home courtesy of a Fenwick Trimble double. Sophomore left-hander Andrew Johnson worked out of the inning but had no easy at-bats, as James Madison’s three outs were on a groundout, a flyout and a pop-out, all hard-hit balls.
Maryland punched right back in the bottom half of the first, countering with six runs on two homers from sophomore designated hitter Ian Petrutz and Lambros.
“[Lambros] had a couple of good swings tonight,” Vaughn said, “but when they bring in a new arm there in the first [inning]…and he gets a first-pitch fastball over the plate and hammers it for a homer…that really stood out to me.”
Petrutz, who hit a home run in his first at-bat against Georgetown last Tuesday, did the same thing against the Dukes, muscling a ball deep into center field to plate three runs. Lambros then followed up with a two-run homer of his own just two batters later, and a wild throw after a Bobby Zmarzlak single brought in the sixth run of the frame.
After a walk and a hit-by-pitch started off Johnson’s second inning, Vaughn took the ball from his starter and inserted junior left-hander Tommy Kane. Johnson went just one inning, walking two batters and allowing three hits and three runs.
Kane allowed a sac fly to give James Madison its fourth run, but retired the side in order after entering the outing.
The Terps then added another run in the bottom of the second when sophomore first baseman Eddie Hacopian hit the club’s third home run of the night, giving them a 7-4 advantage.
But that didn’t hold for long, as sophomore catcher Jason Schiavone smashed a one-out homer for the Dukes to even things up once again, this time at seven.
Maryland once again responded, however, putting six runs on the board in the next two innings. An error and a Nick Lorusso RBI double in the third extended the lead to 9-7 in favor of the Terps. Lorusso then slugged a bases-clearing, three-run triple in the fourth, and another run crossed home on a walk, giving Maryland a 13-7 lead.
Lorusso totaled six RBIs on the evening, giving him a team-high 62 on the season through 37 games.
“You’re seeing contributions up and down the lineup,” Vaughn said. “I think that’s what the really good teams do.”
The Dukes tacked on runs in the fifth and sixth frames to cut their deficit to four, 13-9. But both pitching staffs began to settle down after the fourth inning, at least compared to the absurd scoring rate of the opening innings.
The Maryland bats came back alive in the bottom of the seventh, pouring on six more runs. Lambros knocked in his second homer of the night with a three-run shot, while Hacopian and Lorusso brought in two more and a walk brought in the final one, extending Maryland’s lead to 19-9.
James Madison padded on three runs in the eighth to cut the deficit to seven, 19-12, and bring the combined run total to an astounding 32. But the Terps’ offense once again proved too explosive even with the struggling pitching, earning their 23rd victory of the season.
“When the pack gets rolling, man, it’s like a race to the bat rack,” Vaughn said. “[James Madison] did that tonight … but we did the same.”
