Third baseman Jose Cuas swings at a pitch during the Terps’ game against VCU at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium on April 22, 2015.
The Terrapin baseball team’s bats had gone cold.
Entering last Friday’s series against Purdue, the No. 21 Terps were riding a three-game losing streak. In those three contests, coach John Szefc’s squad scored a combined two runs. And in their previous eight games leading up to the series, the Terps had scored more than two runs just twice.
But the Terps offense, which leads the Big Ten in scoring, broke out of its slump in series against Purdue and Delaware this past week. The Terps will look to continue their success at the plate when Indiana visits Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium on Friday for the start of the Terps’ final regular-season home series.
“We got back to our approach,” third baseman Jose Cuas said. “We were laid-back, taking a lot of fastballs and strikes, which is the opposite of what our approach should be. Our coaches emphasized attacking fastballs early in the count.”
In the Terps’ three-game sweep of the Boilermakers last weekend, the offense drove in 23 runs. Then the Terps tacked on 14 more in their midweek series to sweep both games against the Blue Hens.
The Terps’ reignited offensive success has come after a recent lineup change. After falling to VCU, 2-1, on April 21, Szefc moved center fielder LaMonte Wade to the top of the batting order after he returned from a sore hand. The Terps have scored at least five runs in four of their six games since the lineup shift.
Catcher Kevin Martir and Cuas, the Terps’ fourth and fifth batters, respectively, said the new lineup allows some of the Terps’ top hitters a chance to get on base so Martir and Cuas have a chance to drive them in.
For Wade, he said the pitches he gets in the leadoff role are different.
“In the one-hole, you get a lot of off-speed pitches, and they really pitch you backwards a little bit,” Wade said. “It allows me to stand back for balls, and it’s a good sign for me right now. You might see only one fastball at bat now, if that. When you get a fastball, put a good swing on it, because after that you’re going to get a lot of off-speed pitches.”
Wade recorded five RBIs and three hits in the midweek series. The junior’s production combined with Martir’s hot streak has helped the offense return to its early-season form.
During the Terps’ win streak, Martir has tallied 10 hits, six runs and six RBIs. He’s second in the Big Ten in batting average, and he overtook second baseman Brandon Lowe as the Terps’ leader in batting average and hits.
On Tuesday, the Blue Hens resorted to intentionally walking Martir twice, allowing his teammates to hit with runners on.
“He’s probably one of the hottest hitters in the country right now,” Szefc said. “Those are our veteran guys, and that’s what we needed those guys to do.”
Wade and Martir’s success is also important with Lowe struggling. The sophomore, who is hitting third after spending the majority of the season batting leadoff, didn’t record a hit in the Terps’ midweek series against Delaware after leading the Terps in the category earlier this season. Still, the rest of the lineup has elevated its play to help the Terps build their win streak.
When the Terps have lost, the root of the problem has been a lack of run support. In each of their last eight losses, the Terps failed to score more than two runs.
So they will look to continue their recent offensive outburst against the Hoosiers this weekend.
“Hits come in bunches,” Martir said. “There’s a little more intensity now that guys are starting to get rolling and starting to get hot. Once one guy starts it up, our whole lineup starts to go off from there.”
