No. 13 Maryland baseball recorded nine runs in the rubber match of its season-opening series against South Florida.
Sophomore designated hitter Ian Petrutz and junior shortstop Matt Shaw were responsible for seven of those runs.
Petrutz gave the Terps their third grand slam of the season in the fifth inning, while Shaw consistently produced throughout the entire afternoon, recording five hits including a double and a home run.
“Your best player doing your best player-type things,” coach Rob Vaughn said about Shaw’s performance. “What an elite day for him.”
Junior right-hander Nate Haberthier allowed only two runs in five innings, starring on the pitching side of Maryland’s 9-5 victory over USF.
After struggling out of the gates in the first two games, Maryland’s top of the order produced a bit more on Sunday.
Junior catcher Luke Shliger led off with a walk after working the count full, and Shaw followed with an opposite-field single through the hole.
With men on first and third and no outs, senior third baseman Nick Lorusso sent Shliger home with a sacrifice fly to straight away center field.
The Terps stranded one but secured an early advantage for Haberthier, making his first Maryland start after transferring from Ohio State.
The Bulls quickly evened up the score as on the second pitch of Haberthier’s Maryland career — a ball that was mistakenly left over the middle of the plate — redshirt junior first baseman Daniel Cantu sent a ball over the right-field fence.
Haberthier continued to face early-game struggles, allowing four first-inning hits and two runs en route to the Bulls taking a 2-1 lead.
After setting down the first two batters in order — including his first strikeout of the season — Haberthier faced another jam in the bottom of the second. The junior allowed a four-pitch walk and a Cantu single to set runners up on first and second.
But Haberthier painted the corner to get sophomore shortstop Bobby Boser swinging, recording his second strikeout of the inning and finding his way out of a sticky situation.
The Terps’ top of the order once again came out swinging the second time through the order.
Shliger recorded his first hit of the year, a double to the left field gap. Shaw then quickly smacked a ball over the left field fence for his first home run of the season, setting up the first Shliger-Shaw combo punch of the year and giving the Terps their second lead of the afternoon, 3-2.
In the top of the fourth, sophomore first baseman Eddie Hacopian joined in on the action, recording his first home run as a Terp and the second of the afternoon. The Cypress College transfer displayed an impressive feat of power as he put it over the opposite field fence.
Following another near-home run by sophomore outfielder Jacob Orr, sophomore right-hander Austin Grause was replaced by Tyler Dietz in the top of the fourth. Grause finished his day with a line of 3.1 IP, five hits, four earned runs, two walks and two strikeouts on 57 pitches.
After a quiet bottom of the fourth for Haberthier, the Terps’ offense continued to buzz in the top of the fifth against the sophomore right-hander.
Dietz incurred three baserunners with a walk, a hit by pitch and a single before being pulled for freshman right-hander Lawson Gailey.
Gailey, on his first pitch, left a meatball over the middle of the plate and Petrutz absolutely crushed it, sending a line drive over the right-field fence for Maryland’s third grand slam in just as many games.
“There’s something to be able to hit when the money’s on the table,” Vaughn said. “The best teams and the best offenses can hit when it matters.”
With a much more comfortable offensive cushion, Haberthier continued to settle in to begin the fifth, recording his first zero-hit inning and his third and fourth strikeouts as he showed his best stuff of the afternoon.
Haberthier was relieved by redshirt sophomore right-hander Nigel Belgrave to start the sixth. The junior’s final line was a good one with seven hits, two earned runs, one walk and four strikeouts on 86 pitches.
Belgrave had an effective sixth inning, striking out two batters on three pitches each.
Junior Tommy Kane, a Rowan College transfer, replaced Belgrave to start the seventh.
The left-hander struggled in his Terps debut, allowing three straight baserunners including a three-run homer to junior right fielder Drew Brutcher. The Bulls quickly cut Maryland’s lead in half after things seemed to be out of reach following the grand slam from Petrutz.
Maryland’s bullpen did its job in the eighth. Fifth-year senior Kenny Lippman, a Denison transfer, allowed no runs and one hit on 15 pitches in his Maryland debut.
“Really happy with the way that bullpen threw,” Vaughn said.
The Terps tacked on one more insurance run in the top of the ninth with Shaw’s fifth hit of the afternoon, an RBI double. Shaw finished the afternoon with three RBIs.
A bit of a scare occurred in the bottom of the ninth when Lippman put runners on second and third, but the right-hander finished things off to give Maryland its first series win of 2023.
“We hung up nine [runs], but that still wasn’t our best effort offensively,” Vaughn said. “There’s still plenty of room for growth, but a really professional win.”
