No. 22 Maryland baseball remains undefeated through its second weekend of play after a doubleheader sweep against Campbell on the road.
The Terps improved to 7-0 with the two wins, the team’s best start in program history. Maryland head coach Rob Vaughn secured win No. 100 as the Terps’ skipper in the process.
“This group has really prepared themselves in a super professional manner for the past seven months,” head coach Rob Vaughn said. “You know, and the way they’re performing right now really isn’t a shock to me.”
Maryland’s pitching was phenomenal throughout both wins on Saturday, 3-1 and 9-2. The Terps will have two days of rest before taking on Delaware at College Park on Tuesday.
Maryland avoids ninth inning collapse, wins game one 3-1
After leaving the top of the first without a base runner, the Terps found themselves in some trouble in the bottom of the inning. With Campbell runners on first and second base with only one out, Maryland shortstop Matt Shaw and second baseman Drew Grace were able to turn two, getting Maryland out of a potentially dangerous inning.
The Terps got on the scoreboard in the second as left fielder Bobby Zmarzlak worked his way around the bases and then reached home on a fielder’s choice to second base.
The Camels responded with runners on second and third with one out, but were only able to score one on a sacrifice fly to right field, tying the game at one to end the second.
Catcher Ryan Langerman walked to start the third. After a wild pitch and two ground outs to first, Langerman regained the lead for the Terps heading into the bottom of the third.
Campbell had runners on first and third to start the bottom of the third, but a groundout to pitcher Ryan Ramsey and pop up to first baseman Max Costes kept the runners away from home.
Zmarzlak got his second hit of the day with a single to right field, but two strikeouts followed, leaving him stranded at second to end the top of the fourth.
Ramsey began to find his rhythm in the fourth and fifth with back-to-back one-two-three innings, recording his second and third strikeouts of the game.
After two quiet innings offensively, the Terps got rolling in the sixth. Shaw started things off, beating out a ground ball to shortstop for his first hit of the game. Third baseman Nick Lorusso was walked with four straight balls, giving Maryland two base runners.
Shaw then baited Campbell pitcher Cade Kuehler into a balk, advancing both himself and Lorusso to second and third. Zmarzlak continued his offensive contribution with an RBI groundout to the pitcher. Right fielder Troy Schreffler was unable to extend Maryland’s lead, grounding out to third to end the inning.
Ramsey stayed hot in the bottom of the sixth, striking out two en route to another 1-2-3 inning.
Both teams continued to struggle to hit the ball until Campbell designated hitter Bryce Arnold blasted a shot to deep left field, hitting the top of the wall. Thinking he hit a home run, Arnold began trotting around the bases when Zmarzlak threw the lead-off batter out at second. A crucial play for a team struggling to score.
Relief pitcher Will Glock retired the last two batters of the inning after walking one, securing a two-run lead for the Terps heading into the ninth.
The Terps were unable to get any more insurance runs in the top of the ninth, leaving sophomore Nigel Belgrave with two runs to work with.
The bottom of the ninth found the Terps in an uncomfortable spot. Belgrave was hot and cold, striking out two, hitting two and walking one, leaving the bases loaded with two outs. Luckily, Belgrave forced Arnold to pop up to left field, where Zmarzlak secured the game-winning catch.
Jason Savacool helps Maryland cruise past Campbell in 9-2 game two win
The Terps wasted no time in the top of the first as Shliger hit a leadoff double, his first of the day. After stealing third, Shliger reached home on an error by Campbell pitcher George Ferguson.
Maryland had runners on first and second with one out but was retired fairly quickly after center fielder Chris Alleyne was picked off at first and Lorusso struck out for the second time on the day.
Sophomore pitcher Jason Savacool allowed two men on base in the bottom of the first but got out of the inning with no harm done, striking out two. He tacked on two more strikeouts in the second, hitting the corners of the strike zone with ease.
With each team surrendering one hit in the first two and a half innings, this game seemed like it was headed for another pitching duel until left fielder Lawson Harrill drove one deep over the left-center field wall to lead off the bottom of the third, tying the score at one.
Savacool was able to collect himself, striking out the next two and then forcing a groundout to shortstop.
Ferguson was taken out to start the fourth, and that proved to be a massive mistake. The Terps absolutely erupted offensively scoring four runs behind four singles from Lorusso, Costes, Schreffler and Shliger. Every batter saw the plate, but the inning ultimately ended on an Alleyne flyout and Shaw strikeout.
The Terps completed a perfect fourth inning with a 1-2-3 inning defensively.
Maryland’s offensive assault didn’t stop there, scoring two more runs in the top of the fifth. Zmarzlak was the first on base with a single up the middle. Costes drove him home with a double to right-center field, his second hit of the day. Schreffler batted in the last run of the inning with a double down the left field line.
Another 1-2-3 inning from Savacool ensured Maryland a six-run lead entering the second half of the game.
As Maryland’s offense became stagnant, the Camels broke free of Savacool’s grip, putting up their second run of the game as center fielder Tyler Halstead hit a single up the middle.
The Terps immediately responded, adding on two more runs to their lead as a wild pitch scored the first and Shliger dropped one into left field to score the second.
Junior infielder Matt Orlando was on the mound to replace Savacool in the bottom of the eighth. Savacool left the game allowing just four hits and two runs, while recording a career-high 10 strikeouts.
Freshman Ryan Van Buren replaced Orlando shortly after with two outs and the bases loaded. Van Buren came through, striking out his first batter and leaving the bases loaded.
Maryland left runners stranded on second and third to end the top of the ninth, but it didn’t matter as Campbell couldn’t put together any runs, giving Maryland a 9-2 win.
Three things to know
1. Maryland’s pitchers showed out in both games today. From the starters to the relievers, whoever was on the mound for the Terps was dialed in. It started with starters Ramsey and Savacool who combined for 16 strikeouts, eight hits and three runs in 14 innings pitched. Aside from a slight hiccup in the bottom of the ninth of the first game, the relievers did their jobs, surrendering 0 runs.
“When our arms have their A-game it’s pretty easy and pretty fun, [and] when they don’t that just shows you their toughness and competitiveness,” Vaughn said.
2. Maryland’s bats came alive in game two. The Terps’ offense did just enough to get past the Camels in game one but left plenty of room for error in the second. Maryland scored six of its nine runs and seven of its nine hits in the fourth and fifth inning, causing the Camels to make three pitching changes.
“[You] just got to stay mentally locked in,” Zmarzlak said. “All of our hitters have a good plan when they’re up at the plate and just executed.”
3. Maryland starts 7-0 for the first time in program history. The Terps are off and running this season, recording their best record of all-time to start a season, ousting the previous 5-0 record. This is an extremely promising start for a team that didn’t start to click until mid-season last year.
“We’re just doing business,” Ramsey said. “We were prepared all throughout the fall and all that preparation kind of just molded into the games.”