Anthony Papio swings at a pitch in a 6-2 loss against Indiana on Sunday, May 3, 2015.
Trailing by a run with two outs in the ninth inning against Liberty on April 15, the Terrapins baseball team was in danger of dropping its third straight game.
But after two hits, one hit batsman and a Flames’ error, the Terps tied the contest and loaded the bases. Coach John Szefc’s squad took the lead moments later with two bases-loaded walks, and right-hander Kevin Mooney pitched a scoreless ninth inning to secure the team’s 6-4 win.
Their comeback victory against Liberty marked the fifth time this season the Terps overcame a deficit of four or more runs. But against Indiana this weekend at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium, the Terps struggled to cut the Hoosiers’ early leads as they were swept in a three-game set for the first time this year.
“There wasn’t a whole [lot] of fight in us throughout this whole weekend,” Szefc said. “If we get some fight back, maybe we’ll turn it around.”
Indiana jumped out to an early lead in the series finale Sunday afternoon after scoring five runs in the third inning. While designated hitter Kevin Smith hit a solo home run in the bottom of the frame, his team never pulled closer than four the rest of the game.
The Terps had their best chance to mount a comeback when second baseman Brandon Lowe drove in a run to cut the deficit to four in the eighth. Catcher Kevin Martir ended the frame with a groundout, however, and the Hoosiers secured a 6-2 victory minutes later.
“The offense is just struggling a little bit,” right fielder Anthony Papio said. “We’re hitting [balls] hard, but [they] aren’t finding holes.”
The team maintained a modest offensive performance through the weekend. In the Terps’ 13-2 loss Saturday, which matched their worst defeat of the season, the offense’s streak of scoring four or more runs in a game ended after six games.
Although the Terps came back from a five-run deficit against Arkansas on Feb. 22 and trailed by seven before pulling out a 12-9 victory against Minnesota on March 21, Indiana scored two runs in each of the first two innings en route to a dominating win.
“We were playing our best baseball early,” Papio said, “and we seemed to be down all the time.”
While the Terps came back from an early deficit Friday night — the team erased a three-run deficit in the third inning — they fell 6-5. Szefc’s squad took a 4-3 lead after the third frame, but the Hoosiers retook the lead for good in the sixth, handing right-hander Mike Shawaryn his first defeat in 12 starts this season.
“We’re not coming through,” Smith said. “We’re having bases loaded. … It’s just a matter of getting it done. I’ll take anyone on this team with that situation coming up in the next few weeks.”
As the starting pitching has improved recently, the Terps have faced fewer deficits and gotten out to quick leads. Last weekend against Purdue, the Terps scored two runs in the first inning in each of their first two wins.
The outbursts at the plate, combined with sufficient starting pitching, helped the Terps win five straight games entering their series with Indiana.
And while the Terps didn’t execute their winning formula against the Hoosiers, they’ll hope to draw on those early-season experiences heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
“We’re reminding ourselves in the dugout, ‘Hey, we’ve done this before,’” Smith said. “The beginning of the year showed us a lot about our character.”
