Maryland takes down Delaware 11-10 despite allowing six unanswered runs

Photo courtesy of Chris Lyons/Maryland Athletics

With a runner on second base and one out, Logan Berrier looked to prevent Maryland from suffering another embarrassing loss. He did just that, getting a batter to strike out on a pitch out of the zone and the following batter to ground out on the first pitch of the at-bat.

Berrier’s two-out performance gives him his second save of the season and prevents the Terps from blowing two seven-run leads.

Backed by three combined scoreless innings from Ryan Van Buren and Berrier, Maryland baseball (24-14, 5-7) edges out Deleware (18-16, 6-6) 11-10 in Newark, Delaware, on Tuesday evening.

Despite Van Buren’s recent struggles, Matt Swope brought him into the game in the seventh inning, and Van Buren delivered a strong 2.1 innings. His performance allowed Maryland to silence the Blue Hens’ offense and prevent a comeback.

Maryland scored first in four of its five games last week and did so again in Tuesday’s matchup. A pair of hits from Eddie Hacopian and Brayden Martin gave the Terps an early 2-0 lead.

The Terps appeared to blow the game wide open in a six-run third inning. Jordan Crosland delivered the crushing blow, sending a two-run home run over the left-field fence on the second pitch of the at-bat and giving Maryland an 8-1 lead.

Maryland’s offensive effort was a team effort all afternoon. All but one batter recorded at least one run, and four different Terps recorded two RBIs.

The Blue Hens were nearing a comeback after some poor Maryland fielding until consecutive doubles from Chris and Eddie Hacopian. The hits notched three more runs and brought Maryland’s lead back to seven.

Van Buren started all but two of Maryland’s prior midweek matchups. After allowing seven earned runs in 4.1 combined innings across his last two starts, Swope opted to go with fellow junior Meade Johnson.

The Terps pitching staff allowed the lead-off batter to reach base safely in the first five innings pitched. This cost them in the second inning when a two-out line drive from Brett Lesher cut Maryland’s lead in half.

Maryland looked to have the game locked down, but a complete inability to catch fly balls with two outs kept the fourth inning alive. The extra outs allowed the Blue Hens to score three runs and bring their deficit to 8-4.

Johnson struggled with his location at times, issuing five free passes. However, he pitched well with runners in scoring position, issuing five strikeouts and surrendering just two earned runs. The righty could’ve pitched deeper into the game, but the troubling defense forced Johnson to make numerous extra pitches.

Despite entering the following inning with another seven-run lead, the Terps bullpen continued to struggle mightily. Nate Haberthier failed to record an out in an inning for the second time this season. The senior was charged with four earned runs, allowing the Blue Hens to stay in the game.

Swope tried to fix the bullpen woes by turning to his weekend starter — Kenny Lippman — but that failed too. Josearmando Diaz blasted his second two-run home run in as many at-bats to cut the deficit to one.

Maryland earned its second straight win and will look to build on it this weekend against Nebraska on the road.