Maryland baseball blanks William & Mary, 6-0

Thanks to solid efforts by a pool of relievers, Maryland baseball cruised to a 6-0 win over William & Mary on Tuesday.

When these teams met on March 7, the Terps prevailed in a wild 9-8 affair that featured a combined 27 hits. This game was quite different, a relatively low-scoring contest. Maryland scored single runs in the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth innings, and added two more runs in the ninth. Three times Zach Jancarski singled with two away to drive home a run, and ended up collecting four hits. A.J. Lee had four hits and scored twice, Nick Dunn had three hits.

Maryland tried a different pitching approach to a midweek game, electing to rely on a committee of relievers. Ryan Hill started the game; he, along with Jamal Wade, Jared Price, Andrew Miller, and Ryan Selmer combined to blank the Tribe, holding them to four hits while striking out 10 hitters.

Jancarski and Lee combine to give Terps a 2-0 lead

The Terps scored first in the top of the second inning. After Kevin Smith was plunked on the arm and Lee singled to center, Jancarski hit a hard grounder up the middle to put the Terps on top 1-0.

After retiring the side in order through the first two innings, Hill ran into some trouble in the bottom of the third. A leadoff walk and two wild pitches put a runner on third with one out. But Hill was able to escape by inducing a popup, then striking out the next hitter.

The Terps added another run in their half of the fourth. With two outs, Lee laced a double down the left field line. Once again, Jancarski singled for an RBI, and the Terps led 2-0.

Jamal Wade came on to pitch in the bottom of the fourth and surrendered two straight singles. After a flyout, Ryder Miconi hit a hard grounder right back to Wade for a potential double play, but Wade’s throw to second was low and everyone was safe, loading the bases with one away. Wade struck out the next batter, and got the final out on a grounder to Lee.

Jancarski collects his third RBI single to give the Terps a cushion

The Terps added another run with two down in the top of the sixth inning. Madison Nickens bounced a single through the right-side hole, stole second, then went to third as the throw sailed into center field. Nick Cieri and Lee walked to load the bases, and, Jancarski came through with another RBI single, this time a floating liner that fell in for a hit. Cieri was thrown out at home on the play, but Nickens had already scored to make it 3-0 Maryland.

Jared Price relieved Wade to start the bottom of the sixth. Price had experienced a couple of rough outings lately, but looked back on form, retiring the side in order. Price got the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh before Matt Tilley singled to left. Andrew Miller came in and recorded the final out.

Terps put the game away

Maryland tacked on another run in the eighth to take a 4-0 lead. With one away, Lee and Jancarski hit back-to-back singles. It was their third and fourth hits of the game, respectively. Brandon Gum hit a Baltimore chop to third and beat the throw to first. Lee, who had taken off on the pitch, never stopped running and came around to score.

Miller pitched a scoreless eighth, and two more Terrapin runs crossed the plate in the ninth inning. Will Watson was hit by a pitch, and Smith beat out an infield single. Nickens bunted, and the Tribe pitcher slipped while fielding it, resulting in an errant throw that scored Watson. Lee hit a nubber for an infield hit, and Jancarski hit a shallow fly out, and Smith hustled home for the sixth Terrapin run.

Ryan Selmer pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to finish off the shutout.

With the win, the Terps took both games from William & Mary this year. Overall Maryland is now 25-11. Jamal Wade was credited with the win, his first as a Terrapin.