Maryland baseball (5-7) will take host to Maine (3-6) this weekend for its first home series of the 2023 season.
After dropping three games to No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 7 Vanderbilt and Hawaii at the Cambria College Classic last weekend, the Terps fell out of D1Baseball’s top 25. Maryland had previously been ranked No. 13 in the preseason and No. 18 after that.
“When it comes to rankings, media, all that stuff, you know, as a team, we really don’t care at all,” junior shortstop Matt Shaw said. “Baseball, we play 60 games, we don’t play 15 or 16 like lacrosse or other sports. So there’s plenty of time for us to get back in there and we’ll be just fine.”
The Terps bounced back Tuesday, defeating UMBC 12-6 off huge third and eighth innings.
Junior second baseman Kevin Keister got Maryland’s scoring started in the third inning with a two-run single into left, scoring senior third baseman Nick Lorusso and sophomore center fielder Elijah Lambros.
With the score knotted at two, fifth-year right fielder Matt Woods put the Terps on top after placing a ball into right for an RBI single. The Terps tacked on three more runs by the end of the fourth, extending their lead to four and giving reliever Logan Ott a cushion of run support to work with.
The junior left-hander allowed the Retrievers to slowly creep back into the game as freshman first baseman Leewood Molessa drove in four runs on a homer and a double to bring the score back even.
But with the game tied in the eighth, the Terps’ offense reappeared at just the right time.
Lorusso got the action started by driving in Lambros with a double. Keister walked with the bases loaded, scoring Lorusso from third. Woods then brought all three runners home with a triple down the right-field line.
Maryland added one more run in the monstrous inning before closing the door in the ninth.
Woods –– who missed some time to begin the year with a back injury –– struggled once he returned to the lineup, recording just two hits in his first six games. But the Bryant transfer doubled his hit total and tripled his RBI total in one game, breaking out of his slump to lift the Terps to victory.
After playing nine of its first 11 games away from ‘The Bob,’ Maryland will play seven of its next eight in College Park, a welcoming site for a team that has underperformed without its home fans in the stands.
“I think we needed to be home for a little bit,” Shaw said. “Traveling three weekends in a row, playing really good teams is something that’s gonna help us come playoff time. But it’s good to get our feet under us, get some sleep and play some good baseball.”
Maine defeated Winthrop in its last game, 10-7, off a three-run home run in the tenth inning by sophomore first baseman Jeremiah Jenkins.
The Black Bears possess a potent offense, currently leading the America East in batting average, runs, runs batted in, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Junior infielder Quinn McDaniel paces the conference in six different offensive statistical categories, including 20 walks –– double the total of the next closest player.
Senior infielder Connor Goodman leads the team with 15 RBIs while slashing .343/.447/.543. Redshirt junior utilityman Jake Rainess is tied with Jenkins for the team lead in homers with four. Rainess also has 12 RBIs and a 1.278 OPS.
Maryland’s pitching staff of junior right-hander Jason Savacool, senior right-hander Nick Dean and junior right-hander Nate Haberthier will have their hands full when they face Maine’s lineup. Savacool will get the ball Friday night as he looks to drop his earned run average below four.
“Maine’s really good,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “Their top six hitters can really, really hit…but more than anything with us, it’s more about our guys executing pitches and being efficient. And that’s what we need out of Dean and [Savacool], some length out of them.”
Friday’s first pitch is set for 4 p.m., Saturday’s is 2 p.m., and Sunday’s is 1 p.m.
