CONWAY, S.C. – The Maryland baseball team completed a perfect weekend at the Caravelle Resort Tournament with wins over Canisius and Old Dominion Saturday at Spring Brooks Stadium.
Nick Cieri was a standout throughout the day, totaling four hits, two runs scored and five RBIs. Junior LaMonte Wade had three RBIs against Old Dominion to help the Terps (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) win a rematch of game one of last year's NCAA Regional.
Game One Recap
By John Vittas
Sophomore Nick Cieri drove in five runs and scored two as Maryland defeated Canisius, 8-4, Saturday at Spring Brooks Stadium.
Cieri homered in the seventh inning and cleared the bases on a double to left-center in the second, which extended the Terps' lead to 4-0.
“I've just been sticking to the basics, keeping it simple,” the sophomore said. “I'm just trying to be confident out there. I got a lot of playing time in the summer and the fall to work on my game, and I think it's paying off right now.”
Cieri eventually scored on a wild pitch to complete a five-run bottom of the second for Maryland. The inning started with a walk to freshman Andrew Bechtold, which was followed by a single from freshman Justin Morris, the first hit of his career. Freshman Kevin Smith bunted Bechtold home to give the Terps a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Brandon Lowe then walked and LaMonte Wade singled to load the bases before Cieri emptied them.
The Terps scored their eight runs Saturday in just two innings. With their lead cut to 5-4, Maryland added a three-spot in the seventh. Lowe led off the inning with an opposite field home run to make it 6-4. After junior LaMonte Wade was hit with a pitch, Cieri delivered a two-run home run to right field.
“We were going in there trying to take away the fastball and he left a fastball up and in for me and it just happened to catch the barrel and go pretty far,” Cieri said.
Senior right-hander Bobby Ruse (1-0) pitched five innings of one-run relief to earn the win. Ruse struck out seven and walked only one.
Junior lefty Jake Drossner started the game and did not allow a run over two and a third innings, striking out two and walking five. After Drossner was pulled in the third inning with the bases loaded, reliever Rob Galligan induced a line drive double play, stabbing a comebacker and throwing to first to end the inning.
Game Two Recap
LaMonte Wade's two RBI single in the top of the seventh proved to be the difference as Maryland defeated Old Dominion, 5-2, to close out the Terps' time at the Caravelle Resort Tournament.
The Terps received a nice performance from sophomore starter Tayler Stiles, who struck out a career-high nine batters over five innings of work.
Trailing 2-1 heading to the seventh, freshman Andrew Bechtold started the Maryland rally with a single to right. Papio and Brandon Lowe reached to load the bases before Wade singled, driving in Bechtold and Papio.
Anthony Papio's two-run single in the eighth padded the lead for Maryland.
In the eighth, Tim Lewis singled and Justin Morris reached on an error. Both runners moved up a base and Papio sent them home with clutch single to right field. After Alex Robinson recorded the first two outs of the eighth, junior Kevin Mooney shut the door on the Monarchs and notched the four-out save.
Mooney's save tied him with Brett Cecil for the Maryland all-time record with 23.
Wade's bat also helped produce the first run of the game. The junior lashed a double into center field to score Lowe from first.
Stiles settled in after giving up a run in the first and fanned nine Monarchs. Junior Zach Morris was solid over his two innings of relief work and earned his first win of the season.
-Terps-
John Vittas is a senior journalism major at the University of Maryland. He is the founder and play-by-play announcer for the Maryland Baseball Network
