Infielder Kyle Convissar watches his foul ball during the Terps’ 3-2 loss to Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.
Fans got to their feet to stomp and scream when Terrapins baseball center fielder Charlie White stepped into the batter’s box with two outs in the ninth inning last night. For the third straight inning, the bases were loaded, but the Terps were still down by a run.
White swung at a low 0-2 pitch from Mount St. Mary’s closer Nick Riley, but he drove the ball into the turf in front of home plate. Riley fielded the high-bouncing grounder cleanly and flipped the ball to first baseman Chris Del Vecchio for the final out to hand the Terps a 3-2 loss.
The Terps also suffered a discouraging loss to the Mountaineers last year when they fell 2-1 at home to Mount St. Mary’s, which finished 11-37.
In a shot at redemption last night, the Terps were unable to come back from a three-run deficit, and they stranded 17 runners on the night. The defeat ended the Terps’ 13-game nonconference winning streak.
“It absolutely is deja vu,” coach John Szefc said. “But it really has nothing to do with it being them. When you leave 17 guys on base — I’ve never even seen that before. … It’s uncharted waters.”
After scoring 11 runs in each of their past two games and totaling a season-high 16 hits in an 11-0 win over George Mason on Tuesday, the Terps bats produced five hits against Mount St. Mary’s.
Still, the Terps relied on 10 walks to put runners in scoring position and loaded the bases in the fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings. But unlike past midweek games, the Terps were unable to come up with hits in important at-bats. The Terps first run came in the seventh when left fielder Kyle Convissar drew a bases-loaded walk, and catcher Kevin Martir drove in their other run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
“We weren’t able to get that big hit,” Convissar said. “Sometimes in baseball that just happens.”
All of the game’s runs came in the final four innings. With two outs in the sixth, second baseman Brandon Lowe tried to backhand a grounder up the middle but dropped the ball, allowing Mountaineers right fielder Ryan Owens to score from second.
While the Terps struggled with runners in scoring position, Mountaineers catcher Andrew Clow, who entered the game with a team-high .369 average, drove in the decisive runs in the seventh inning with a two-out, two-RBI single to right field.
The Terps never recovered from Clow’s base hit, and they lost to a nonconference opponent for the first time since an 8-5 defeat at Florida on Feb. 16 in their first series of the season.
Right-hander Bobby Ruse started and pitched three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two on 32 pitches before Szefc pulled him to keep him available to pitch in a relief role this weekend.
Despite numerous opportunities, the Terps couldn’t capitalize on Ruse’s strong start or complete the comeback attempt, resulting in a disappointing loss to Mount St. Mary’s for the second straight year. And this isn’t the first game in which the Terps were unable to produce runs in key situations.
“At some point or another someone has to step up and get something going,” Szefc said. “But that’s typical this year. … If you look at the games we’ve lost that’s exactly what our M.O. has been: leaving guys on base.”
