The Terrapins baseball team had dropped all four of its midweek games entering Tuesday. Behind poor pitching, the Terps had allowed an average of 12.5 runs per game in those four contests.
The Terps’ starting pitching continued to struggle in the Terps’ game against Liberty on Tuesday. Left-hander Tayler Stiles allowed four runs in 3.1 innings, and when he exited the contest, coach John Szefc’s squad trailed by three runs.
But for the first time in a midweek match this year, the Terps’ bullpen did enough to secure win.
The relievers surrendered just one run before the ninth inning and the offense recorded 11 hits to carry the Terps to a 10-9 victory over the Flames at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. More than a month into the season, the Terps earned their first win in a midweek game.
“We had good contributions from the bullpen,” Szefc said. “We’re making progress. We’ve had some really good performances over the last five days against good teams in tight situations.”
The Terps (10-10) entered Tuesday after winning their series at then-No.23 Cal State Fullerton behind strong pitching. While the weekend rotation has led the Terps to a 6-4 record in weekend games, Szefc has struggled to find a reliable starter in midweek contests.
In his first start of the season last week against UC Irvine, Stiles allowed six runs in 4.2 innings. And he continued to struggle as a starter Tuesday.
Szefc said Stiles’ fastball wasn’t strong, and that it’ll take time for him to become comfortable in a starting role after serving as a reliever for the beginning of the season. The fourth-year coach also attributed the Terps’ cross-country flight home from California on Monday to Stiles looking sluggish.
But six Terps relievers helped keep the Flames to one run before right-hander Mike Rescigno allowed four runs in the ninth inning. And behind its relief pitching, the offense, which averaged 7.5 runs in its previous four midweek games, took a comfortable lead.
Right-hander Andrew Green, who earned the win after throwing a scoreless fifth inning, said the bullpen has practiced game-type situations with runners in scoring position, which has helped it become more comfortable.
“It comes a lot with the preparation,” Green said. “I’m just going to stick with my confidence.”
Still, the Terps fell behind when Liberty (13-10) scored in the third inning off first baseman Andrew Yacyk’s RBI single. In the next frame, the Flames forced Stiles out of the contest when center fielder Jack Morris hit a three-run home run.
But that’s when the Flames’ bats went quiet.
Freshman catcher Dan Maynard, playing in his fifth career game as a Terp, hit a RBI double in the fourth inning to cut the Terps’ deficit to 4-3.
“When we walk up, we’re ready to hit,” Maynard said. “When we see a first pitch fastball, we’re in attack mode. We’re not being passive.”
In the fifth, the Terps continued their momentum as they took their first lead of the contest. Left fielder Madison Nickens scored when first baseman Kevin Biondic walked with the bases loaded. Then right fielder Anthony Papio singled in designated hitter Nick Cieri.
An inning later, the Terps blew the contest open.
Behind three RBI singles and a two-run home run from Biondic, the Terps scored five times to extend their lead to 10-4.
While Rescigno gave up a three-run home run in the ninth inning, he escaped the scare to seal the Terps’ victory.
“It kind of got ugly at the end,” Szefc said. “You just got to hang in there. You can’t really lose what happened in the first seven innings.”
The Terps offense hadn’t received the support it needed from its pitching staff to win midweek games before Tuesday. Behind strong relief pitching against the Flames, though, the offense’s effort resulted in the Terps’ third consecutive victory.
“We have a great staff,” Maynard said. “They’re going to put up zeros; we’re going to put up runs. There have been games where they’ve picked us up. It goes back and forth. We continue to complement each other and hopefully we can carry that the rest of the season.”
