Maryland baseball wins rubber match over Stetson, 8-4

Maryland baseball jumped out to a hot start Sunday, allowing the Terps to take the rubber match over the Stetson Hatters, 8-4.

The Terps took an early 6-0 lead, but let Stetson back into the game in the middle innings. However, Chris Alleyne gave Maryland some insurance in the eighth and the Terps came away with the win.

Alleyne led the Terps in this one, going 3-for-3 with a double and two home runs as well as three runs and four RBIs. He reached base in all five of his plate appearances. Justin Vought also hit well for the Terps, going 2-for-4 at the plate with a double and a home run. He added one run and two RBIs.

Trevor LaBonte threw five innings, giving up three runs on five hits with three strikeouts. After looking dominant through the fifth, though, he seemed to run out of gas during the sixth before coming out of the game. Four relievers teamed up to bring Maryland to the finish line.

Alleyne started the day with a leadoff double into left field. Two batters later, Taylor Wright traded places with him, smashing an RBI double into left center field to give Maryland a 1-0 lead. In the second, Tommy Gardiner walked and advanced to second base on a fielder’s choice to start the inning. Caleb Walls then walked and Alleyne was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Randy Bednar launched a deep sacrifice fly to left field driving in Gardiner to give the Terps a 2-0 lead. LaBonte sent the Hatters down in order both innings.

The third inning was sparked by Ben Cowles getting drilled by a pitch. Vought hammered an RBI double down the left field line giving Maryland a 3-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Michael Pineiro was hit by a pitch and Alleyne later smashed a 2-run home run over the left field wall making the lead 5-0. Vought homered in the fifth inning to make it 6-0.

In the bottom of the fifth, Kyle Ball singled to left and later scored the first run for the Hatters on a double by Jorge Arenas. Stetson continued its surge in the sixth. Baylen Sparks and Austin Bogart started off the inning with back-to-back singles. Jonathan Meola drove them in on a two-run double, cutting the deficit to 6-3.

The seventh inning was difficult for the Terps. Will Glock walked three straight batters to load the bases. Nick Turnbull came in to relieve him and allowed a run on a passed ball to make it 6-4, but Andrew Vail came in to end the inning with just one run crossing the plate.

After Stetson made it close, Maryland tacked on two more runs in the top half of the eighth. Alleyne smashed his second home run of the day, this time a two-run shot over the right field wall, making it 8-4.

John Murphy came in and recorded a six-out save to secure the series for the Terps. For the second straight season, Maryland has won two of three games against Stetson.

The Terps will travel to Newark, Delaware, to take on the Blue Hens for the second time this season on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET.