No. 18 Maryland baseball cruises past Delaware, 8-3

After an RBI groundout off the bat of Nick Lorusso advanced Luke Shliger for the first run of the day, Ian Petrutz stepped up to the plate.

On the fifth pitch of a 3-1 count, the sophomore DH launched a solo home run to right, increasing the Maryland lead to two. The home run was Petrutz’s fifth of the season. 

It was that kind of day for the No. 18 Maryland baseball, as the Terps (4-4) cruised past Delaware (3-5), 8-3. 

The win brought Maryland back to .500.

“We’re not even close to playing our best baseball yet, so we’ll keep getting better,” coach Rob Vaughn said.

It was Maryland’s first home victory of the season after a 8-6 loss last week to West Virginia in its home opener. 

Freshman left-hander Kyle McCoy only pitched one inning in his start, getting pulled after a scoreless, two-strikeout showing. Junior left-hander Logan Ott continued the job in the second with his own scoreless, two-strikeout inning. 

“We kept hitters off balance all night, threw a lot of strikes,” Shliger said. “Got a lot of damage counts. And I mean when you do that, you’re gonna have success.”

The Terps got in scoring position again in the second, with junior second baseman Kevin Keister on second and sophomore center fielder Elijah Lambros on first. With two outs, Shliger delivered a double into left-center, bringing his teammates home as Maryland extended its lead to 4-0. 

Shliger entered the game after a productive series against Ole Miss. Against the Rebels, the Maryland captain batted .500, posting four runs and five RBIs. 

With two outs in the top of the fourth, the Blue Hens had two in scoring position after a double by redshirt freshman first baseman Owen Petrich advanced redshirt junior centerfielder Jake Dunion to third. But the Terps escaped the inning the next at bat as Ott forced a pop up.

Delaware junior right-hander Wyatt Nelson began to lose his juice in the bottom of the fourth, walking Keister on the first at bat. After a wild pitch and deep flyout to center by senior left fielder Bobby Zmarzlak, Keister advanced to third with one out remaining in the inning. 

On the first pitch of the next at bat, Lambros delivered a deep homer to left to make it a 6-0 Maryland lead. 

Lambros finished the game 2-3 with two RBIs and three runs. 

“He’s just on time,” Vaughn said. “That guy’s physical you know and he’s been on time consistently, he’s doing a good job at moving on the pitches he needs to move on.”

After Shliger singled the next at bat and junior shortstop Matt Shaw walked, Nelson was pulled for redshirt senior right-hander Dan Frake. Nelson pitched 3.2 innings, allowing five hits, five walks and six earned runs.  

Frake finished the inning with a Lorusso fly out to right field.

In the top of the sixth, the Blue Hens recorded their first runs of the day. An RBI single down the left field by Dunion advanced redshirt junior third baseman Joey Loynd home, decreasing the deficit to five. 

Two at-bats later, a double to right field by Petrich advanced Dunion home, bringing the Maryland lead down to 6-2. 

Ott was pulled after the score for sophomore left-hander Andrew Johnson. Ott recorded seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched, giving up seven hits. 

The Terps responded in the bottom half with a two-run inning of their own. With runners on second and third, Lorusso dropped a two-RBI single into left center and brought Maryland’s lead to 8-2. 

Lorusso finished 2-5 with three RBIs.

The Blue Hens got back on the board again in the seventh. Redshirt senior shortstop JJ Freeman delivered a RBI single right up the middle with two outs, bringing their deficit down to five. 

Johnson got pulled after the score for right-hander David Falco. The redshirt junior completed the inning the next at bat and finished the eighth for the Terps as well, giving up zero hits or walks. 

Redshirt sophomore right-hander Nigel Belgrave finished the game for the Terps in the ninth. After allowing a leadoff double, Belgrave threw three-straight strikeouts to secure the 8-3 Maryland victory. 

“Nigel’s been electric…he’s the guy we trust at the end of the game right now,” Vaughn said. “Just give him the ball and let him finish it.”

The Terps will be back in action in Minneapolis this weekend as part of the Cambria College Classic.