Maryland baseball: Terps rally to defeat Bryant 5-3; game recap and 3 things to know

Maryland staged a thrilling comeback 5-3 win against a tough Bryant starting pitcher in the first game of a three-game set. The win breaks a three-game losing streak for Maryland. Although Mike Shawaryn didn't have his best stuff, he gutted out an impressive 118 pitch stint to notch his 26th career win.

Terrapin bats continued to be red hot. Marty Costes and Justin Morris led the way with two hits apiece.  Anthony Papio's double pulled the Terps even before singles by Madison Nickens and Nick Dunn put the Terps ahead for good.

Bryant plays small ball to lead 3-0

Today's pitching match-up promised to be a good one: Maryland's Mike Shawaryn facing Bryant's ace RHP James Karinchak, the latter who was 3-0 with a 1.00 era entering this game. However nothing is a given in baseball, and runs were not in short supply.

Both teams didn't threaten to score through three innings. However, Bryant managed to scratch a run in their half of the fourth. With no one out, Matt Albanese hit an opposite field double. He went to third on a long fly to right field. Brandon Bingel brought Albanese home with another fly out to right.

The Terps almost got the run back in their half of the inning. Nick Cieri drew a one out walk. Marty Costes hit a single to right field, and Kevin Biondic hit a single through a hole in the left side to load the bases. Anthony Papio skied a ball to center, and Bryant was able to gun down Cieri trying to score from third.

A J Zarozny got aboard via a throwing error by Andrew Bechtold. Zach Wood walked to put runners on first and second with no one out. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up, and a walk loaded the bases. Cole Fabio received Shawaryn's third walk of the inning, and Bryant led 2-0. Albanese singled in another Bryant run. Shawaryn got out of the jam with a strike out and a pop-up.

Terps strike back and take the lead

Maryland responded in the bottom of the inning. Justin Morris and Kevin Smith hit back-to-back doubles for Maryland's first run. Walks to Madison Nickens and Nick Dunn loaded the bases. But Karinchak was able to induce Cieri to hit into a 6-4-3 double play. It was the second straight inning where the Terps had the bases loaded with one out, yet double plays ended the threats.

The Terps finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Costes walked to start the bottom of the sixth, and then Biondic was plunked by a pitch. Papio laced a double down the right field line to tie the score. He went to third on a ground out. That was it for Karinchak, as Bryant brought in LHP Justin Snyder. Morris grounded out, with Papio holding at third. After Smith walked, Nickens singled home Papio to give the Terps a 4-3 lead. Dunn singled through the middle for the fourth Terp run of the inning. After six innings, the Terps led 5-3.

Shawaryn held Bryant scoreless in the seventh. His final line: 7ip, 3r, 2er, 4h, 5bb, 2k, 118tp.

Tayler Stiles came on to pitch in the top of the eighth. He threw two scoreless innings to seal the deal for Maryland. Shawaryn gets the win to go to 2-1, Stiles gets his first save of the season, and the Terps now stand at 6-7 on the year.

Three things to know:

1. Mike Shawaryn gutted out a win. On a day when The Unicorn issued five walks, which is very uncharacteristic for him, Maryland's ace proved to be the ultimate warrior.

2. This was a really important win for Maryland. After losing three straight games, the last two being ugly, it was good to get back in the win column. Bryant is not a pushover by any means, and hopefully the win over them today will get Maryland's mojo jump-started.

3. Justin Morris is beginning to sting the ball. The sophomore catcher went 2-4, with one of the outs just missing going yard. His average is now .261 with a healthy slugging percentage.