After North Carolina came from behind to win the series finale against the Terrapin baseball team last weekend, closer Dan Gentzler said the Terps would need to “put the final nail in the coffin” if they were going to rebound and make the ACC Tournament.
Leading 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning of the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against Boston College, Gentzler was one out away from backing up his words.
His final obstacle was the Eagles’ power-hitting designated hitter Mickey Wiswall, who first year Terps’ coach Erik Bakich said looked like he only had one objective in mind as he stepped into the batter’s box: hit a home run.
Wiswall didn’t have to wait long to get his chance. On a 1-0 count, Gentzler left a fastball up in the zone that Wiswall crushed over the centerfield fence for a two-run home run, sending the game into extra innings.
With both the lead and momentum lost, Gentzler and the Terps went down meekly in the 10th inning, failing to record a single out as the Eagles clinched the series on pinch-hitter Rob Moir’s bases-loaded, walk-off single for a 5-4 win.
“We had great dugout energy, and I don’t think there was one guy on our team that visualized that happening,” Bakich said. “The real problem is that the game still wasn’t over, and I was hoping that we would have come back out and taken the momentum back for our side. But instead we fell apart, and they were able to score easily.”
The victory handed the series to the Eagles (15-16, 6-9 ACC), who had beat the Terps just hours earlier, 4-0. The teams played a doubleheader on Saturday after Friday’s game was postponed due to rain.
Unfortunately for the Terps (13-21, 4-11), the team’s offense, which had been practically nonexistent in the past week, failed to break out of its slump. Boston College starter Mike Denhardt spread out six hits and two walks as he threw a complete-game shutout, dispatching the Terps in just 108 pitches.
“Offensively, it looks to me like we are trying too hard out there, and sometimes it seems like the harder you try, the worse you play,” Bakich said. “Even on Saturday, I really thought [Wiswall’s] home run should have been inconsequential. We should’ve been able to score more than four runs, but they took advantage.”
Needing a win in the series finale to snap a six-game losing streak and keep their rapidly dwindling ACC Tournament hopes alive, Terps’ ace Brett Harman delivered perhaps the gutsiest — and finest — performance of his career.
In the week leading up to the North Carolina series, Harman battled flu-like symptoms that caused him to lose as many as 15 pounds. But after having his start pushed back one day that weekend, he still pitched.
This week, a lower lumbar strain limited Harman’s preparation and forced the coaching staff to save their ace for the finale.
Knowing the bullpen had pitched a combined 7.1 innings on Saturday, Harman turned in a complete game. He led the Terps to a 4-2 win and added a career-best 12 strikeouts, salvaging the series and keeping hope for a postseason berth alive.
“I told myself that I needed to go out there and give us a lift and pitch deep into the game,” Harman said. “We needed that one, and as long as we are statistically alive, our goals aren’t changing.”
lemaire@umdbk.com
