As Maryland baseball coach Rob Vaughn spoke to his squad after the nightcap of Friday’s doubleheader with Illinois, he said catcher Justin Morris was the player of the day.
The senior provided his typical sturdy defense behind the plate for 18 innings, and for the first time this year, he showed signs of being a viable offensive threat. Morris hit a three-run home run and a pair of booming doubles in game two against the Illini, the first three-hit game of his career.
Entering the contest, Morris was batting .155. He added another hit in Maryland’s rubber-match loss to the Illini, raising his average to .192. Morris likely will have the day off Tuesday against James Madison after catching all weekend, but believes he can carry the momentum from his final two games against the Illini through the back half of the season.
“We worked on a lot of things this week,” Morris said. “I’ve always kind of started out slow and hopefully, you know, just getting a little confidence here tonight I can start to pick it up and keep things rolling.”
[Read more: Bullpen’s wildness costs Maryland baseball in 4-2 rubber-match loss to Illinois]
While Vaughn was relieved to see Morris launch the massive three-run homer, it was his two doubles to center field that hinted toward an offensive resurgence for the senior, he said.
In high school, Morris excelled hitting toward the left-center field gap, going the opposite way as a left-hander. He felt he got away from that approach to start his senior year, attempting to pull the ball too much. His Friday homer hugged the right field line and he lined a double in the same direction Sunday.
[Read more: Maryland baseball beats Illinois, 7-1, in second game of doubleheader]
The pair of two-baggers in between those hits showed a change from Morris’ recent pull tendency, taking into account Vaughn and hitting coach Matt Swope’s advice.
“We’ve got a lot of guys that need to make some adjustments,” Vaughn said. “Most of it has very little to do with the swing. It’s the plan, the approach at the plate and kind of the aggressiveness in the zone that we’re looking for.”
For a team struggling mightily on offense — seven players who have started a game are hitting below .200 — a second-half resurgence from Morris would be a more-than welcome boost.
It wouldn’t be the first time the Edgewater native came alive at the end of a season. Last year, he hit .150 in his first 23 games and .260 in the last 15.
That season, then-coach John Szefc had three experienced catching options — Dan Maynard, Nick Cieri and Morris — to rotate between. Vaughn doesn’t have that luxury in his first season at the helm, with freshmen Justin Vought and Ty Friedrich backing up Morris.
With Friedrich sidelined with an arm injury sustained March 17, Morris has carried the load, even when his offensive performances have languished along with the team’s. While the Terps tied for their second-most hits (30) in a series against Illinois, they managed their second-worst run-to-hit ratio of the year. Maryland stranded a combined 30 runners.
Morris’ four extra-base hits against the Illini were his first of the season. If he can continue his production at the dish, it may help a team that currently has the third-worst average in the Big Ten (.234) turn around its fortunes.
“A lot of guys, you know, they feed off of other players and stuff,” left-hander Tyler Blohm said. “It’s a big thing to lead by example and stuff, and as a senior, if he starts to get hot I think that starts to pass around the team and everybody starts to find a way.”
CORRECTION: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this story incorrectly stated Justin Morris hit a two-run home run in game two against Illinois. It was a three-run home run. This article has been updated.
