No. 24 Maryland baseball beats Georgetown, 5-1, captures fourth straight win

Coming into Monday’s game against Georgetown with a team-leading six home runs, a .313 batting average and a team-best slugging percentage of .792, first baseman Maxwell Costes has been one of the most impactful players for No. 24 Maryland baseball this season.

When Maryland was up just one run in the bottom of the fifth inning, it once again needed No. 4 to spark its offense in the midst of a tight game. Costes, the Terps’ RBI leader, extended Maryland’s lead with a shot to left field that went all the way out of the park, giving it a critical two-run home run.

The home run from Costes put the score at 4-1 and it kept the Hoyas in the backseat for the rest of the contest, propelling the Terps to a 5-1 victory in College Park. Maryland finished off its rain-delayed weekend series with a 3-0 record and extended its overall record to 13-2 on the season. The win over Georgetown gave the Terps their fourth consecutive victory.

After a scoreless opening inning, the second inning was where both teams were able to generate a run. Georgetown first baseman Ubaldo Lopez stared down a blistering fastball from sophomore pitcher Jason Savacool and took it all the way over the left field to give the Hoyas a quick one-run advantage.

Soon after, the Terps responded. With little productive hitting for Maryland, outfielder Bobby Zmarzlak managed to hit a single and come all the way home thanks to a sac fly from second baseman Jacob Orr. Just like that, the Terrapins were tied after the second frame at one apiece.

Maryland was consistently able to make plays, especially in the bottom of the third as it looked to break the score open. Hoyas catcher Matt Stone missed Lopez at first trying to pick off Maryland’s Alleyne, allowing the speedy center fielder to advance to third. This prime scoring opportunity proved to be just that, as it allowed Alleyne to easily reach home. Third baseman Nick Lorusso came up later in the order and collected an RBI single to give Maryland a 2-1 lead after three innings.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Costes continued his unbelievable season as he came through in a major way in the bottom of the fifth. After Lorusso doubled, the senior went to work. Costes rocketed a pitch off Matthew Sapienza and took it on a trip out of the park and over the left field wall with a runner on to extend the lead to three with five innings in the books.

Savacool managed to silence Georgetown’s offense in the next two innings and then Lorusso added onto Maryland’s lead in the bottom of the seventh. Lorusso took advantage of a favorable 3-1 count, then demolished a solo shot over the centerfield wall to give the Terps a 5-1 advantage.

Savacool marched all the way into the eighth inning with dominance on the mound. He made it out of the top of the seventh and then the top of the eighth with another pair of shutout innings, bringing his strikeout total to nine in the process.

The Terps’ four-run lead would stick all the way to the top of the ninth inning, where right handed closer Sean Heine would replace Savacool after a three-strikeout eighth inning. Heine sealed the deal with two strikeouts to finish off Georgetown for Maryland’s second win in a row against the Hoyas in a row and fourth consecutive win overall.

Three things to know

1. Jason Savacool had a solid day on the mound for the Terps. It was best that the sophomore pitcher has been this season as he was able to limit the Hoyas from having an impact at bat nearly every inning he was on the mound. Over eight innings, Savacool had nine strikeouts and managed to only allow a career-low three hits on the day, with two of those being a home run and a double off Lopez’s bat. That homer from Lopez would be Georgetown’s only score with Savacool on the mound, completing another nice start for the right-hander.
2. Maryland’s fielding was impressive. Maryland had a stellar performance from Savacool today, but the gloves in the field also came up with some big plays for the Terps. A 4-6-3 double play ended the top of the fifth inning, while a layout diving grab by Schreffler put a close to the top of the seventh inning. Only one error was committed by Jacob Orr in the sixth inning, but he would redeem himself by throwing Georgetown third baseman Cam Meyer out to end that inning. Overall, Maryland finished with just two errors and had a clean defensive performance otherwise.
3. Georgetown’s pitching was all over the place. Six pitchers graced the mound for the Hoyas on Monday as no one could get it going consistently out of the bullpen. Kyle Salley and Matthew Sapienza pitched the first five innings, and gave up a combined six hits and walked five batters. While four of the six had at least two strikeouts on the day, they all let up a total of eight hits and two home runs. It was not a great day for the arms from the Big East.