Maryland baseball uses offensive showcase to down Georgetown, 10-7

Maryland baseball entered Tuesday against Georgetown hoping to extend its hot streak as of late, entering as winners of 10 of its last 12 games.

Yet the first four innings were challenging for the Terps, as they trailed by one entering the bottom of the fifth and allowed seven runs to the Hoyas thus far. 

After two runners reached base, Nick Lorusso hoped to get the Terps back on the board in the bottom half.

The senior did just that.

Lorusso crushed a three-run homer into center on the fourth pitch of his at bat, putting Maryland back in front with a lead it didn’t lose the rest of the way. 

The Terps (15-9) defeated the Hoyas (14-10) in an offensive showcase at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium on Tuesday, 10-7.

“That’s what the pack should look like,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “It’s set it up and do your job and you know, timely hitting far trumps lots of hits and that’s what we were tonight.”

The Terps got onto the board early in the first with a pair of RBIs. Sporting his new walkup song “Bad to the Bone,” junior shortstop Matt Shaw launched a triple off the right field wall, bringing home junior catcher Luke Shliger.

Shliger started in the designated hitter spot against the Hoyas, giving him rest from his catching duties. 

Sophomore left fielder Ian Petrutz lined an RBI single through the left side two at bats later, bringing Shaw home from third. 

The hit was Petrutz’s 21st RBI of the season, batting .259 on the year. 

The Hoyas responded with two runs of their own in the second. 

After striking out two in the first inning, junior right-hander Nate Haberthier lost his control in the frame. The Hoyas had bases loaded with two outs following three walks, and sophomore center fielder Keith Savoy capitalized, dropping a double into left center over the outstretched glove of Shaw to drive in two runs and tie the game. 

The inning was Haberthier’s last, getting pulled for junior left-hander Logan Ott. Ott pitched the next two innings before being pulled for sophomore left-hander Andrew Johnson.

The tie was short lived as Shliger sent a double to the right field wall in the bottom of the second, scoring redshirt junior catcher James Heffley from first to put the Terps up 3-2.

Scoring continued in the third from both sides. 

Left fielder Ubaldo Lopez crushed a two-run homer over the tall center field wall, giving Georgetown a one-run lead. The graduate student entered the game with a .338 batting average and a 1.168 OPS, both team leads.

The Terps then loaded the bases with one out to open the bottom half. Sophomore first baseman Eddie Hacopian drove a two-RBI single through the left side, regaining a one-run lead for Maryland.

But the Maryland lead wasn’t safe as graduate student shortstop Austin Kretzschmar launched a three-run home run over the left field wall to put the Hoyas back in front in the top of the fourth, 7-5. Fifth year right fielder Matt Woods then brought the Maryland deficit back down to one in the bottom half with an RBI double to right. 

The Terps got back on the board the next inning when they strung together a two-out rally. 

Lorusso stepped up to the plate with two on after the first two Terps of the frame were retired. The third baseman delivered with a three-run bomb, putting Maryland ahead 9-7. The home run was Lorusso’s tenth of the season, the team-lead. 

“That guy’s as professional as it gets and had a big at bat in a big spot today,” Vaughn said.

The Terps extended their lead in seventh. 

Hacopian led off with a hit-by-pitch and advanced to both second and third following an error by graduate student right-hander Alexander Fenton. Heffley brought Hacopian home with an RBI groundout two at bats later, giving Maryland an insurance run as its pitching looked to close out the win in the final two innings.

The Hoyas failed to register another run, as sophomore right-hander Ryan Van Buren closed the game for the Terps in the ninth. 

“I knew we were gonna have to come out and be a good version of ourselves today and I thought we rang the bell and did a good job,” Vaughn said.

The Terps will travel to Iowa next, opening their Big Ten play with a weekend series against the Hawkeyes.