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On Deck #3: Terps baseball goes 4-0 last week as bats bomb away

On Deck #3: A recap of the past week’s games, followed by a look at this week’s upcoming games.

After last weekend’s disappointing series in Conway, SC, the Terps responded with a prolific display of offensive firepower. Winning all four games propelled the Terps to a 10-4 mark and should provide a sense of opportunity for the challenging week ahead.

On Tuesday the Terps snapped a three-game losing streak with an emphatic 13-6 victory over Delaware. Maryland jumped out to a 6-0 lead on the Blue Hens, and then Delaware scored five straight runs over the fourth and fifth innings to make things interesting. The Terps returned the favor by scoring seven more runs and pulled away for a 13-6 thrashing. The Terps banged out 15 hits, including four from "Bubba" Alleyne and three from Randy Bednar. But this game’s laurels went to Ben Cowles. The sophomore shortstop went 2-2, with 2 walks, 3 runs scored, and a career-high five rbi. His sacrifice fly just missed giving him his second home run of the game.

In the opening game of the series against Bryant, the Terps started off with a bang. Alleyne, Bednar, and Maxwell Costes all had hits to put the Terps up 2-0. But they weren’t done. Bobby Zmarzlak sent a two-run shot for his first collegiate home run, and the score was 4-0. Bryant answered with two runs to halve the Terps’ lead. The Terps continued to put the pressure on, but were coming up empty. That is, until Zmarzlak hit a grand slam to give the Terps a commanding 8-2 lead. Maryland continued to pour it on and won by a 14-2 margin. Of note is that Alleyne had six hits in the game, tying a Maryland record. Sean Fisher tossed six innings for his third win of the season.

The Terps clinched the series on Saturday by defeating Bryant 8-3. Nick Dean threw six shutout innings for his first win as a Terp, and Elliot Zoellner had a three-inning save, striking out six Bryant hitters. Like the previous day’s game, the Terps came out swinging a hot bat. Zmarzlak had an RBI double, and Matt Orlando and Cowles pitched in with RBIs of their own. Maryland put up a crooked number in the fifth inning to lead 7-0, when Bednar doubled home two and Costes had a sac fly. Bryant scored three runs in the seventh, but JuCo transfer Brenton Davis, making his first start as a Terp, homered to give the Terps an 8-3 lead. Bednar led the Terps with three hits and three runs scored, as well as swiping two bases.

Game three was another convincing win, 13-3 giving the Terps their fourth straight victory. Sean Burke set a career high with 11 strikeouts, allowing three runs on five hits. Bryant led for the first time all series with a run in the top of the first, but it was all Terps after that. Maryland pounded out 11 hits, had 11 walks, and four HBP (three on Tucker Flint alone). Costes had a monstrous, bat-flipping clout in the first inning, and he ended up being on base five times. The bottom of the order was productive, with Austin Chavis collecting three hits and scoring twice, and Cowles had two hits and three RBIs. Over the three games Maryland outscored Bryant 35-9, getting double digit hits in each game.

Some snippets:

Ben Cowles has a six-game hitting streak, which has raised his average from .107 to .250.

Matt Orlando is flashing a slick glove at third base.

Maxwell Costes has an OBP of .627 and an OPS of 1.407.

Randy Bednar has seven multiple hit games this season.

Tucker Flint easily leads the B1G with 11 HBP.

Sean Burke has struck out 35 hitters in 22.2 innings.

Opposing batters are just hitting .222 against Nick Dean.

The week ahead:

On Wednesday Maryland hosts a pesky James Madison team. The Dukes have tested the Terps over the last few years, and their 8-6 record in 2020 includes three losses to #11 NC State. After facing James Madison the Terps head down to Texas, starting off with a three-game series against TCU. The Horned Frogs are a definite NCAA tournament candidate, and have been ranked at various times this season. They sit at 11-4 after going 1-3 this past week. If the Terps can take the series, they will have an even better record against "Q1 teams" and likely see a significant RPI bump.



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