Down five runs in the top of the eighth with only four hits, No. 13 Maryland baseball’s chances of pulling off a steep comeback seemed slim.
Two walks and a single later, the odds rose significantly.
Sophomore Jacob Orr must have sensed this, as he stepped up to the plate and sent a moonshot to center field, clearing the loaded bases and shortening the deficit to just one run.
But the Terps’ comeback would stop there, as South Florida eked out an 8-7 victory on opening night.
“We had some opportunities and we just didn’t quite get it done,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “I thought we fought our tails off tonight, we just came up a hit or a pitch short.”
To start the game, USF right-hander Hunter Mink came out firing against Maryland’s top three hitters, setting them down on just nine pitches.
The Terps’ offensive leaders and preseason All-Big Ten selections catcher Luke Shliger and shortstop Matt Shaw both struck out on three pitches. Senior Third baseman Nick Lorusso then grounded out to sophomore shortstop Bobby Boser to end the quick top of the inning.
Maryland right-hander Jason Savacool got the nod on opening night, getting off to a bit of a rocky start. The Terps’ ace allowed back-to-back singles to USF’s three and four hitters before shortstop Bobby Boser sent a rocket to left-center, putting USF up 3-0 in the first inning.
After going down one-two-three in the first, Maryland’s hitters came out with a vengeance in the top of the second, going through seven batters and putting up three runs.
Sophomore DH Ian Petrutz, seeing his first pitch of the season, didn’t hesitate to swing freely. Petrutz’ decision paid off, as he sent a no-doubt home run to right field, putting the Terps on the board for the first time in 2023.
Petrutz’ homer must have lit a fire under his teammates, as triples by outfielders Orr and Elijah Lambros catapulted the Terps back into the game, evening things up at three in the second inning.
Following the early offensive outburst by both clubs, Savacool and Mink began to settle in a bit more as the middle third of the game approached.
Savacool left the bottom of the second unscathed –– but the Bulls kept making him work, going through five batters and ballooning the junior’s pitch count to 43.
Shaw, Lorusso and Petrutz went down routinely at the top of the third to keep things knotted at three. Mink’s pitch count began to rise too, however, as the redshirt junior threw 50 pitches through the first three innings.
Shliger and Shaw both struck out in their first two at-bats, as Mink was dominant outside of Maryland’s second-inning outburst.
Mink was relieved by junior right-hander Riley Skeen to begin the fifth after throwing 59 pitches.
Mink, a reliever-turned-starter this season, only recorded one start last season and is used to a much lower pitch count. The redshirt junior would’ve been perfect outside of that three-hit second inning, overall turning in a very respectable outing against a top 15 program.
Savacool settled in a substantial amount after the third inning, recording back-to-back one-two-three innings and keeping his pitch count relatively in check. After throwing 64 pitches through three innings, the junior only threw 19 in the next two frames.
However, Boser once again established his dominance early in the bottom of the sixth. The shortstop sent a shot to right-center for his second home run of the night, this time a solo shot, to put the Bulls up 5-3.
Savacool would set down USF’s next three routinely after allowing his fifth earned run, sitting just under 100 pitches after six frames. The right-hander was replaced by redshirt junior David Falco Jr. heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Savacool’s night ended in disappointing fashion, allowing five earned runs, seven hits, two walks and recording five strikeouts. The junior never got into much of a groove outside of a quiet fourth and fifth frames.
“I thought [Savacoool] competed and gave us a chance,” Vaughn said. “At the end of the day … he gives you six innings, five runs, that gives our team a chance to win.”
Maryland’s offense, which hadn’t recorded a hit since the second inning, was in dire need of a rally heading into the top of the seventh against USF redshirt senior reliever Ethan Brown.
The Terps got just that, as a Bobby Zmarzlak walk, Lambros single and Shaw HBP loaded the bases for Lorusso with two outs against the left-hander.
Lorusso wound up and sent a grounder to Boser in the hole, who took his momentum and got the force out at third to end the Terps’ mini-rally.
Down two runs heading into the final third, the Terps hoped for a quiet bottom of the seventh from Falco Jr.
Things couldn’t have taken a worse turn for the right-hander.
Falco Jr. seemingly had no command of the strike zone, walking three batters, allowing one hit, striking out none and pegging a batter.
Three runs scored in the process. The Bulls blew the game wide open, securing their largest lead of the night and stealing the momentum back from the Terps.
However, the Terps, no strangers to big deficits in this game, quickly responded by loading the bases and sending them all in with an Orr grand slam to straight away center.
Orr finished the night 2-for-4 with five runs batted in and his first career grand slam.
The sophomore outfielder was a last-minute start, as expected starter fifth year outfielder Matt Woods was a late scratch with back tightness, according to Vaughn.
“[Orr] was unbelievable this preseason. We really challenged him in the fall, and that guy has rung the bell,” Vaughn said. “It wasn’t shocking at all that he came up with some huge hits because that’s who he is.”
Back within one run, Shliger had a chance to continue the Terps’ rally. The junior sent a grounder toward first as the ball deflected off redshirt junior Daniel Cantu, falling into the hands of junior John Montes.
Montes threw the ball to first, setting down Shliger to stop the bleeding.
A routine bottom of the eighth from sophomore Ryan Van Buren put the Terps in prime position to at least send the game to extra innings with one more run.
However, redshirt junior Tanner Mink, after allowing the grand slam to Orr in the eighth, had just enough to get out of a first-and-second jam, giving the Bulls the win on opening night.
The Terps’ offense, after struggling for the large majority of the game, came alive in the eighth and ninth innings, a good sign going forward.
The series continues tomorrow with first pitch set for 2 p.m.
