In the third inning of the Terrapins baseball team’s game against James Madison on Wednesday, right-hander Hunter Parsons threw three consecutive strikes against Dukes designated hitter Tyler Carroll.
Parsons, who hadn’t expressed emotion all game, then pounded his chest with his palm while flashing a smile as locked eyes with catcher Justin Morris.
It was that kind of day for Parsons.
The freshman allowed one run off two hits in seven innings, leading the Terps to a 5-2 win over James Madison in his second career start at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.
“Everything is dictated off your starting pitching,” coach John Szefc said. “If you get a good start, you have a really good chance to win. He gave us a really good start when we needed it.”
In their past two contests, the Terps (15-15) combined for 10 hits — including four in a 5-4 loss at Liberty on Tuesday. Though Szefc said the offense didn’t have a great outing Wednesday, it improved to record eight hits.
The Dukes (13-16) got on the board first, though.
Catcher Zach Tondi took Parsons deep in the second, the first home run the rookie has surrendered in his Terps career.
But the 6-foot-3, 200-pound hurler wouldn’t allow another run, and the offense supported its starter.
The Terps took their first lead in the fourth when shortstop Kevin Smith, who had a two-RBI double to tie the game at four in the eighth Tuesday, belted a two-run home run.
In the sixth, after right-hander Mark Gunst balked, designated hitter Nick Cieri singled to score second baseman Nick Dunn. And in the following inning, center fielder Madison Nickens smacked an RBI double to tack on two more runs.
“It was definitely more comforting,” Parsons said of pitching with the lead. “It also put a little pressure on me. I had to go out and throw up more zeros because the team just gave me the lead. It was my job to go out there and get right back in, which I did.”
After Parsons exited in the eighth, the Terps bullpen, which gave up a walk-off double a day earlier, allowed just one more score.
Szefc said one of the most crucial moments of the contest occurred in the eighth after left-hander Zach Guth issued two walks without an out. Left-hander Robert Galligan replaced the freshman and limited James Madison to one run.
But it was Parsons who helped make the Dukes’ late run irrelevant. Last week in his first career start against VCU, Parsons gave up one run in 4.2 innings to lead the Terps to a victory. In his second start, the newcomer displayed improvement.
“It’s the best I’ve seen [of] him in college so far,” right-hander Mike Rescigno said. “That was huge. We needed him to have a good start. Hopefully he can just keep rolling with it.”
Parsons said he struggled to command the strike zone and his fastball in his first start. So leading up to Wednesday, he focused on his fastball command and changeup in practice.
It paid off. Parsons said he kept hitters off-balance from the beginning of the contest Wednesday and Szefc said the Fruitland native executed his changeup, slider and fastball against the Dukes.
And after blowing the team’s lead Tuesday, the bullpen finished off Parsons’ stellar start to help him earn his first college win and snap the Terps’ two-game skid.
“When you get beat on a walk-off and you travel three and a half hours on a bus, you worry your guys are kind of beat up from that,” Szefc said. “If you’re going to have a good answer, it has to start with your pitching and defense. It’s important that [Parsons] is here in the program.”
