The Terrapin baseball team has seen both sides of its in-state rivalry with Towson this year. The Terps were embarrassed by the Tigers 9-2 back in March but bounced back at the beginning of this month to even the series.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, the rubber game was in College Park, where the Terps are undefeated against non-conference opponents. They extended that streak to nine in a row last night with an 8-3 win at Shipley Field.
“We know we’re supposed to be the better team,” senior Jordan Wilson said. “Looking back at the schedule, that [Towson loss] was a bad loss. … We played with a lot of these kids growing up and during the summer, and I’m still good friends with some of the guys. A lot of us were also recruited by them, so it’s bragging rights. We really wanted to win.”
The Terps (20-25) came out swinging, compiling 14 hits from nine different players, four of whom had multiple-hit games. It was the second night in a row the Terps reached double-digit hits and had at least three players with multiple hits.
“Coming out during the week, everyone’s anxious to hit because during the weekend we face such tough pitching,” said Wilson, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Wilson’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth began a four-run rally, the biggest offensive inning of the game, to push the Terp lead to 6-2. Senior Matt Maropis followed Wilson with a sacrifice fly to score freshman Mike Murphy, then Wilson scored on a Towson overthrow – one of four Tiger errors.
Sophomore Nick Jowers, who reached on the error, quickly took advantage by scoring in an unconventional way. With freshman Nate Curd on the hill and Jowers on second, Curd’s pitch got by catcher Jason Stifler, and Jowers turned on the hustle to score all the way from second base.
That was just one of several instances of heads-up baserunning from the Terps. But what lingered on the basepaths long after the game were a few dumb mistakes. Twice Terp runners were picked off after taking lazy leads.
“We wanted to be aggressive, and we were, but there were a couple blunders,” head coach Terry Rupp said. “We wanted to put guys in motion, but we just got picked off in situations where we were asleep.”
The Terp pitching staff was wide awake, as four pitchers combined to hold the Tigers to just three runs on seven hits. Freshman John Dischert (3-3) allowed two runs, only one of which was earned, to keep the Terps tied through five innings.
“I thought John gave us five, which is what we were looking for,” Rupp said, “but the bullpen was excellent.”
Senior reliever Seth Overbey took over to start the sixth and threw two shutout innings to pick up his third win of the season. The Tigers (13-27) scored just one run the rest of the game – off Joe Zaccaria, who entered in the eighth.
But Zaccaria settled down, striking out Stifler to end the inning and set the stage for closer Brett Cecil. Cecil was in his usual form, mowing down the side with three strikeouts on nine straight pitches to put a winning stamp on the “I-95” series.
“We really wanted this one,” said Murphy, who went 2-for-3. “We’re a better team than Towson, and we should play like it.”
Contact reporter Jason Fraley at fraleydbk@gmail.com.
