After Delaware staged a five-run rally to take a two-run lead in the top of the fifth Tuesday, the Maryland baseball team needed a spark to restore order against a winless opponent.
The Terps were coming off a weekend in which they sufferend a pair of walk-off losses on errors, but against the Blue Hens, they were on the receiving end of gifted runs.
Delaware committed two errors to aid the Terps’ three-run fifth inning, giving back the lead it had just taken. A throw from the outfield trickled all the way to the backstop to on an RBI single, and two batters later, the Blue Hens threw away a potential double play ball, allowing two more runs that provided Maryland the lead it carried through the final innings.
The Terps capitalized on Delaware’s five errors en route to a season-high 11 runs in their 11-6 midweek victory, bouncing back from a painful series loss.
“[Saturday] was one of the most depressing baseball days I’ve ever been a part of,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “You sit there with leads late in games, feeling pretty good, and then it doesn’t quite bounce your way. That’s kind of a tough thing to bounce back from.”
The Blue Hens miscues started early. In the opening frame, first baseman Maxwell Costes hit a dribbler to Delaware starter Joey Silan, but Silan bounced his throw to first, and Joseph Carpenter couldn’t corral it.
That error loaded the bases, and after a single from catcher Justin Vought and walk from shortstop Benjamin Cowles gave Maryland a 2-0 lead, Delaware center fielder Kevin Mohollen allowed an unearned run to score when he misplayed a line drive.
Trailing 4-1 in the fifth, Delaware attempted to rally back, drawing a pair of walks off reliever Mark DiLuia, who was then pulled after 3.1 strong innings. But left-hander Billy Phillips allowed two-out singles to all three batters he faced, and the Blue Hens had tied the game.
Vaughn had seen enough and made his second pitching change of the inning, but right-hander Daniel O’Connor allowed a two-run double before finally ending the inning with a groundout.
“Our bullpen’s been rock-solid all year. [They] get a little five-running there,” Vought said. “We’re just going to keep getting quality at-bats, try to get some runs on the board, put something up to respond to their five-run inning.”
The Blue Hens’ defense slipped up again in the fifth, committing two errors to help cough up the lead.
A throw from the outfield trickled all the way to the backstop on an RBI single, allowing runners to advance, and two batters later, the Blue Hens threw away a potential double play ball, allowing two more runs that provided Maryland the lead it carried through the final innings.
“I think good teams really take advantage of it,” Vaughn said, “and fortunately tonight we were able to get some big swings in some big spots, and kind of extend that thing out a little bit.”
Maryland’s offense carried its success into the sixth, tacking on three more runs, two on an RBI double from Cowles and the other on a solo shot from designated hitter Sebastian Holte-Mancera.
Costes added his first career home run in the bottom of the eighth to further Maryland’s offensive eruption, which far surpassed the Terps’ combined eight-run output in the three-game weekend series in Louisiana.
“This is the first time I feel like we actually like throttled a team,” Holte-Mancera said. “It felt pretty good to come out and just attack and just hit.”
For the offense that recently hadn’t performed as they hoped, the Delaware miscues helped light a spark. For the team, bouncing back from the two disappointing losses gives them confidence going into this weekend’s series against Stetson.
“That’s baseball for you. You’re gonna sometimes be on the short end of things,” Vought said. “But to come out in the midweek game and respond to the two walk-off losses is big for us.”
