COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Sophomore Brian Shaffer threw seven strong innings allowing just one earned run and striking out six as the Maryland baseball team defeated Bryant, 8-6, at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium Sunday afternoon.
The Terrapins (7-8) were in control of the game throughout before Bryant attempted a furious rally in the ninth inning. Sophomore catcher Justin Morris starred offensively, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
Maryland opened the scoring in the first inning. Junior Madison Nickens notched the Terps first hit, a single, and eventually game around to score after a Nick Dunn single and a Marty Costes RBI base knock.
Bryant briefly tied the game in the third before the Terps took the lead back in the bottom half of the inning. Nickens reached on an error by the pitcher and then stole second before coming in to score on a Dunn double. Dunn moved to third on a Nick Cieri flyout to set up Marty Costes, who lifted a sac fly to right that scored Dunn.
After a Bryant run in the fifth, Maryland blew the game open in the bottom half of the fifth. Back-to-back singles from Dunn and Cieri put runners on the corners. Bulldog reliever Craig Lacey then delivered a wild pitch that allowed Dunn to score.
Following a Costes walk, senior Anthony Papio singled to right to load the bases before Andrew Bechtold drove Cieri home with a single. Morris notched the big hit, ripping a 3-2 pitch down the left field line to clear the bases and make the score 8-2.
Shaffer had a solid outing that saw him walk just one batter and retire his last seven faced. Bryant made a charge against the Maryland bullpen in the ninth and after four runs across brought Brandon Bingel to the plate representing the winning run with two on.
Junior Mike Rescigno, brought on to face Bingel, tossed a ball on a 2-2 pitch, but Morris caught Robby Rinn off the bag at first and threw over to Kevin Biondic. The first baseman chased Rinn, but eventually fired to AJ Lee at third to catch Matt Albanese, who was breaking towards the bag. Lee applied the tag to give the Terps one out in the inning.
Play was then halted for 45 minute due to a rain delay. After the stoppage, Rescigno came back out and retired Bingel and Buck McCarthy to end the game and record his first save.
Dunn finished 3-for-3 and has now reached base in all 15 games.
Maryland returns to the field Wednesday night at UC Irvine. First pitch is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET and the action can be heard live on the Maryland Baseball Network.
– Terps –
