MOBILE, Ala. – The No. 13 Maryland baseball team staged a furious late inning rally, but fell just short in a 7-6 loss to UCF in game two of the South Alabama Tournament at Stanky Field Saturday.
Down 7-2 in the eighth inning, the Terps (4-1) battled back to 7-6 and had the tying run on third in the top of the ninth. Senior Tim Lewis starred throughout the afternoon, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs
UCF struck first in the opening frame. Erik Barber hit a sacrifice fly that drove in Dylan Moore to give the Knights a 1-0 advantage.
Barber was once again the catalyst in the third smacking a two-run single to increase the lead to 3-0. In the fourth, Logan Heiser hit a two-run homer to make the score 5-0.
Maryland pulled a pair of runs back in the sixth. After sophomore Brandon Lowe singled and a LaMonte Wade walk, junior Jose Cuas hit into a fielder's choice that put Lowe on third and Cuas on first. Sophomore Nick Cieri slapped a single that scored Lowe. Lewis followed with a walk before Kevin Martir's groundout to the shortstop plated Cuas.
UCF retook the five-run advantage in the seventh, chasing senior reliever Bobby Ruse with a pair of runs. Junior Alex Robinson induced a double play to get out of the jam, but the Knights would carry a 7-2 advantage into the final two frames.
In the top of the eighth, Cuas started off the Maryland rally with a walk. Cieri was subsequently hit by a pitch before Lewis singled to score Cuas. Consecutive Terrapin strikeouts preceded an Andrew Bechtold walk that loaded the bases. Freshman Kevin Smith then earned a free pass to make cut the UCF lead to 7-4.
Taylor Bloom pitched a spotless eighth to set the stage for a Maryland comeback. Cuas was once again involved as he blasted a triple into the right-center field gap to give the Terps their first base runner. Kengo Kawahara came in to pinch run for Cieri after the sophomore was plunked for the second time of the game.
Lewis followed with a single to score Cuas before Martir smacked a single to plate Kawahara. Martir was caught out at second and Lewis was unable to score on Anthony Papio's subsequent single, and Maryland's situation changed to runners at the corners with two outs.
After Bechtold drew a walk to load the bases, the game fell on Smith's bat. The freshman grounded to short and UCF made the force play at second to end the contest.
Junior reliever Robert Galligan tied his career high in innings pitched with two. The Terrapins have still not committed an error this season.
Maryland finishes play at the South Alabama Tournament tomorrow against Arkansas. Action is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. ET at Stanky Field.
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