As the Terrapin baseball team’s series finale against Clemson started Sunday, Korey Wacker found himself in an unfamiliar place: on the bench.
The game marked the first time all season that someone other than Wacker had been chosen to patrol center field to start a game. But given the way the Terps’ starting pitching had performed in the first two games of the series, coach Erik Bakich wanted Wacker, who doubles as the team’s closer, ready for extended duty.
“It was definitely different,” Wacker said. “I hadn’t pitched since last Tuesday and we talked about bringing me a little earlier today to switch things up a little bit. I felt really good, just like every other time I go out there.”
After poor outings from the team’s starting pitchers Friday and Saturday, pitcher Chuck Ghysels left the Terps in solid shape when he walked off the mound Sunday. And having been relieved of his fielding duties for the day, Wacker was more than ready for the longest outing of his young Terp career.
Wacker went 4.1 innings in a 7-6 Terp victory, a far cry from the typical one-inning outings that are part of his job description as the team’s closer.
But Wacker won’t be available for multi-inning apperances every game, making a resuscitation of the Terps’ pitching staff after one of its worst weekends of the year all the more vital.
“We never really got off to a good start in either of the first two games,” Bakich said. “We had some struggles on the mound.”
Pitcher David Carroll has been the team’s best starter all year long, recently earning a promotion to the Terps’ No. 1 starting job for this weekend’s series. But in his first Friday night start of the year, he allowed six runs in only three innings.
“David just was missing with his pitches up in the zone. A veteran team like Clemson will make you pay for that, and that’s what happened,” Bakich said. “They hit him pretty hard.”
In the aftermath of the series, Bakich was confident that Carroll would return to “the same old David” for the next series opener Friday against Miami. But for Eric Potter, who lasted only 0.1 innings in his Saturday start against the Tigers, Bakich decided more drastic action was necessary.
Potter will get a midweek start today against Delaware State (15-16) at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium, a strategy Bakich has already employed to some success this year. A week ago, former No. 1 starter Sander Beck made his midweek debut to help restore his confidence against a lesser side after going winless in his first five starts of the year. The method paid off, as Beck has recorded wins in his past two appearances — both midweek games.
“I think Eric’s just batting through some adversity right now. Mentally, [he’s] feeling for it a little bit,” Bakich said. “He’ll figure it out.”
The Terps hope Potter, who hasn’t lasted more than two innings in three straight starts, will be able to get his season back on track in a fashion similar to Beck.
If not, the Terps’ starting rotation, a certifiable strength for much of the season, will likely haunt them as it did at Clemson.
schneider@umdbk.com
