Maryland baseball center fielder Zach Jancarski pounded his palms against the center field wall at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium in the top of the seventh inning of the Terps’ second game of their doubleheader against Illinois on Saturday.
Through six innings, the game was tied. But in the seventh, Jancarski failed to grab second baseman Michael Hurwitz’s hit to center. Moments later, Hurwitz came home to give his team a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh frame, though, Jancarski’s emotions flipped. He jumped up and down and pumped his fists as he jogged across home plate after shortstop Kevin Smith hit a three-run home run.
The Terps offense, which didn’t record a hit until the fifth inning, came alive in the bottom of the seventh to lead Maryland to a 3-1 win over the Fighting Illinois after losing the first game of the doubleheader. The two teams will play a rubber match Sunday.
Right-hander Taylor Bloom, who entered with a 2.12 ERA, kept the offense in the contest through its struggles. He threw his fifth complete game of the season and shutout the Fighting Illini (24-20, 8-9 Big Ten) until Hurwitz scored in the seventh off a single from first baseman Pat McInerney.
Jancarski began the Terps rally in the seventh with a single before catcher Dan Maynard followed-up with his own single. That’s when Smith, who was 0-for-2 at the plate entering the seventh, hit his sixth home run of the season to give Maryland (25-20, 10-7) its first run in 14 innings dating back to the first contest Saturday.
But for awhile, it seemed like the Terps offense would continue to struggle after recording just three hits in a 4-2 loss in Game 1 of the doubleheader. Shawaryn allowed three runs in the fourth inning to put his team in a hole in that contest. Bloom, however, didn’t let up in the second game, and his offense supported him.
Associate head coach Jim Belanger said the Terps would need to be tough on offense for the team to make a postseason run. They showed that poise Saturday to even the series in a battle of two teams fighting for a spot in the Big Ten tournament.
