Outfielder Jamal Wade fist bumps the third base coach after his solo shot in the Terps’ 6-5 win over Nebraska at Shipley Field on April 5, 2015.
Jamal Wade wasn’t supposed to start Sunday, but Terrapins baseball designated hitter Nick Cieri injured his hand during batting practice. The freshman outfielder took advantage of the opportunity to start in Cieri’s place.
Wade went 2-for-3 with one walk and a fifth-inning home run.
His performance at the plate helped the No. 19 Terps dig out of a five-run hole and clinch a series sweep over then-No. 22 Nebraska with a 6-5 walk-off victory Sunday.
With Cieri’s status unknown before today’s home game against West Virginia, Wade might be thrust into a starting role once again for the Terps.
“I thought he had four great at-bats,” coach John Szefc said Sunday. “He was just as much a part of that [comeback] as anybody.”
Wade entered Sunday with two hits, both home runs, in 14 at-bats, and he continued that trend of power hitting during his second plate appearance Sunday.
The Terps trailed 5-1 when Wade stepped to the plate during the fifth inning. An inning earlier, catcher Kevin Martir had blasted a solo home run over the left field fence. Wade followed suit with a solo homer that landed in nearly the exact same spot as Martir’s.
The first three hits of Wade’s career were all homers, but he showed some versatility in the seventh inning with a leadoff single to silence his playful teammates.
“They were joking around and saying, ‘when am I going to hit a single?’” Wade said. “Finally I hit a single.”
Wade scored later that inning when Kevin Smith, his roommate, smashed a two-run homer over the left-field fence.
In the eighth, Wade achieved another first at the plate when he drew a leadoff walk. Before Sunday, Wade had struck out four times and never drawn a walk.
“I struggled in the beginning of the year, swinging at bad pitches, like out of the zone,” Wade said. “I really worked on having a better approach and working the count a little bit.”
While Wade struck out in his first at-bat Sunday, Szefc wasn’t concerned about Wade’s plate appearance.
“He went down looking on a pitch that was clearly missed by the guy standing behind the plate,” Szefc said.
Last year, Wade started working out in the weight room and hit a “solid” amount of homers as a senior at St. Paul’s School, but in the summer the Owings Mill native tried to slim down to become more flexible.
Even Wade struggled to explain where his power came from.
“Honestly, I have no idea,” Wade said. “It’s pretty shocking.”
Wade is one of four freshman reserves who have filled in for injured starters over the last few weeks. His older brother, LaMonte, has been out since March 7 with a broken hamate bone. Kengo Kawahara has filled in for LaMonte in center field and complied a .231 average and .339 on-base percentage.
Kevin Biondic and Justin Morris both have played at first base since Andrew Bechtold suffered a season-ending torn ligament in his left thumb on Feb. 28.
“Our freshmen have consistently gotten better,” Szefc said. “We’ll be happy about that.”
While Morris and Kawahara both started Sunday, Wade was the offensive star of that group. And the Terps hope that Wade’s hot hitting continues today.
“He’s a big kid,” Smith said. “He’s a great hitter. He loves the fastballs, and he puts good swings on the ball.”