Standing on Shipley Field just minutes after the Terrapins baseball team completed a 3-0 win over West Virginia last night, left fielder Tomo Delp spoke slowly and candidly as he offered an assessment of the Terps’ night.

“We took it a little too lightly,” he said. “We weren’t as focused as we needed to be. But we learned our lesson.”

It probably went something like this: Not every pitch is a good pitch. The Mountaineers’ (14-20) pitching staff was wild all night, issuing eight walks to the Terps. But the Terps (22-13) were equally erratic, finishing with only four hits and routinely chasing bad offerings.

They were anxious and impatient offensively, coach Erik Bakich said afterward, but it didn’t matter because they were more than capable defensively on a blustery evening at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.

Four Terps pitchers combined for the shutout, holding West Virginia to only three hits and seven walks. Right-hander Michael Boyden, who threw only one pitch in last weekend’s series against No. 22 N.C. State, got the start and struck out four batters in three innings of work.

The pitcher of the night, though, was right-hander Brady Kirkpatrick, who entered in relief and threw five innings of one-hit baseball for the victory. Before last night, his most recent win was a Feb. 25 game against Western Carolina.

“He looks more confident, and that was the big thing,” Bakich said. “You can see the presence he has out on the mound, the comfortability he has on the mound, the confidence about him.”

“I just needed to get back on my feet, get the ball over the plate, let my defense work,” Kirkpatrick (2-5) said.

When Kirkpatrick struggled against the Mountaineers, his defense was indeed there to help him out. Center fielder Korey Wacker threw two runners out on the base paths, and second baseman Ryan Holland cut down a runner trying to advance home on a ground ball after a throwing error allowed him to reach third.

“I think we have one of the best defenses in the ACC, if not the country,” Kirkpatrick said. “They’re not standing out there for nothing.”

West Virginia countered with four pitchers who kept bats flailing at poor pitches and scattered the Terps’ three runs throughout the game. The team’s main offensive threat was Delp, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Holland had the Terps’ third RBI.

It appears the Terps will take more than their 22nd win of the season – their most in three seasons under Bakich – away from last night’s game. Delp said the Terps have known what they need to do to win all season. Last night offered a reminder of what lies ahead in a crucial ACC series with Duke this weekend.

“Luckily, what good teams do is have bad games but still win, so it’s good,” Delp said. “At least we pulled through it.”

dgallen@umdbk.com