The first three innings of the Maryland baseball team’s 9-7 win over Alabama State on Sunday felt much like the middle three of the No. 22 Terps’ loss to Ball State on Friday.
Freshman right-hander Tyler Blohm, making his first career start, retired the Hornets in order in the first but labored through the second inning. Alabama State, the second 2016 NCAA Tournament team the Terps faced in Clearwater, Florida, this weekend, sent eight men to the plate and scored three runs to take an early lead.
It was the latest multi-run inning the Terps allowed—the first two led to a pair of losses to begin the 2017 campaign. But then, Maryland’s offense took control of the game.
Catcher Dan Maynard’s sacrifice fly in the second and first baseman Brandon Gum’s RBI single in the third kept the game close, and in the fourth, the Terps’ six-run inning lifted them to their first win of the season.
Maynard contributed a two-out RBI single, and right fielder Marty Costes and designated hitter Nick Cieri added two-RBI hits to help knock Hornets right-hander Terrell McCall out of the game after just 3.1 innings. And perhaps most notable was shortstop Kevin Smith’s one-out single that started the rally after Smith struck out five times Saturday.
A double play helped Blohm retire the Hornets in order after Maryland’s offensive outburst, and he lasted five innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs with two walks and four strikeouts.
Right-hander Ryan Selmer pitched three innings, allowing one hit and striking out three, but the Hornets rallied in the ninth, yet another big offensive inning for a Maryland opponent. Right-hander Mike Rescigno couldn’t record an out, and it took a combination of left-handers Tayler Stiles and Andrew Miller to secure Maryland’s first win of 2017.
Maryland fell behind Sunday but for the first time during the weekend’s three games was able to respond by taking a lead and maintaining it against a Hornets team that didn’t lose a conference game last season.
