Maryland baseball’s bats come alive in 16-10 win over William & Mary

A power surge in the third and fifth innings made the difference for Maryland baseball on Tuesday, as the Terps blew out William & Mary, 16-10.

After William & Mary took an early 6-1 lead, Maryland scored six runs in the third and seven in the fifth to pull ahead and break the game open. The Terps fell to the Tribe in Williamsburg last week, but got revenge and moved to 16-15 on the season.

Four Terps had multi-RBI games, with Justin Vought leading the way, driving in five along with his grand slam in the fifth. Randy Bednar went 3-for-4 with three RBI and Josh Maguire drove in two and hit a home run, scoring three runs and going 2-for-4.

As midweek games go, the Terps had a modified bullpen day, starting with Tuck Tucker, who had a tough outing on Tuesday, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hit. It was his replacement, Mark DiLuia, who came in and took the reins, throwing 4.2 innings of two-run ball, one of those earned, striking out four as well.

Both teams scored a run in the first, with a Tribe groundout answered by a Bednar RBI double for the Terps. The Tribe answered in the second with a four-spot, beginning with a Kyle Wrighte two-run double, giving William & Mary a 3-1 lead. David Hogarth followed several batters later with an RBI single, and three batters later, with the bases loaded, Jason Waldman drove in a run as he was hit with a pitch, putting the Tribe up 5-1.

William & Mary added on another in the third as Brandon Raquet led off the inning with a single, advanced to third two batters later and scored on a Matt Thomas sac fly, increasing the Tribe lead to 6-1.

However, the tide turned during the bottom of the third, as Maryland put up a six-spot to take the lead. Taylor Wright and Maxwell Costes started the scoring with back-to-back solo home runs to cut the lead to 6-3. Maguire continued the scoring with an RBI single, and two batters later, Chris Alleyne was walked with the bases loaded to cut the score to 6-5. AJ Lee followed with a sac fly to tie the score, and Bednar continued his stellar day at the plate with an RBI single off the glove of the shortstop to take a 7-6 lead.

The scoring wasn’t done there. Seven more runs would cross the plate in the fifth, thanks to some light-tower power and a few singles. Michael Pineiro, who came into the game in the top half of the inning, immediately made an impact, singling home Maguire after he and Caleb Walls were walked to begin the inning, two of five walks given up by Tribe pitching in the frame.

Bednar drove in his third run of the day two batters later with an RBI single. Pineiro came around to score on a Taylor Wright sac fly, and Vought put the exclamation point on the inning with a grand slam to center field, putting Maryland up 14-6.

The Tribe got one back in the sixth and seventh, but Maryland answered back with two runs in the bottom of the seventh, as Costes scored on a Vought RBI groundout, his fifth RBI of the game. Costes was helped out with two wild pitches, advancing two bases to third. Two batters later, Maguire hit a solo home run to right field, giving Maryland a 16-8 lead. The Tribe put two across in the ninth, but those runs were too little, too late.

Maryland plays West Virginia at home Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET before traveling to Northwestern this weekend for a crucial conference series.