COLLEGE PARK, MD – No. 13 Maryland rallied late but wasn't able to overcome an early deficit as the Terps lost their home opener to West Virginia, 8-6, on Tuesday afternoon at Bob 'Turtle' Smith Stadium before 1,278 fans. The Terps fell to 2-2 prior to heading to Mississippi for a huge series with No. 4 Ole Miss this weekend.
Down 8-2 in the seventh, Elijah Lambros smashed a two-run home run to center – his first college homer. The next batter, lead-off man, Luke Shliger clubbed a moonshot to right field as Maryland got back within three at 8-5. The Terps had the tying run at the plate in both the eighth and ninth innings, but weren't able to tie the game.
Maryland scored two runs in the third inning on a Nick Lorusso double driving in Shliger and Bobby Zmarzlak for Maryland's first two runs after falling behind 7-0.
Shliger went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Lorusso also went 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Zmarzlak went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Kevin Keister went 2-for-4 with an RBI in the ninth inning. Ian Petrutz and Eddie Hacopian had the Terps' other hits as Maryland recorded 13 knocks.
West Virginia's Sam White and Kevin Tucker each hit solo home runs. Logan Suave went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and Caleb McNeeley was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. On the mound, Robby Porco started and threw five innings for the Mountaineers (2-2).
Breaking Down The Action
- West Virginia scored five runs in the first inning as McNeely drove in two runs with a double to leftfield. A single by Suave brought home two more and Barry walked with the bases loaded for a 5-0 lead.
- The Mountaineers added another run on the fielder's choice in the second for a 6-0 lead.
- White homered to add to the lead for the Mountaineers, 7-0.
- The Terps got on the board in the bottom of the third as Lorusso doubled in Zmarzlak and Shliger, cutting the Maryland deficit to 7-2.
- WVU's Tucker led off the seventh inning with a solo homer to push the lead to 8-2.
- Lambros two-run shot over the centerfield fence and Shliger's bomb to right in the seventh brought Maryland back within three at 8-5.
- Maryland brought the tying to the plate in the eighth inning with two outs as Shliger flew out to deep center to keep the scored at 8-5 heading to the ninth.
- With two outs in the ninth, Keister drove in Hacopian with a liner to center, making it 8-6.
Terp Debuts
- Freshman Alex Irizarry started at second base in his first game as a collegian.
- Freshman Eliakim Stowe came on in relief in the fifth inning to make his college debut.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Lambros hit his first college homer in the game.
- 4: Hacopian and Petrutz have hits in all four games this season.
- 6: Nigel Belgrave struck out four batters on Tuesday to give him six Ks in three scoreless innings this season out of the bullpen.
- 8: Maryland has eight home runs in four games to start the year, coming from seven different batters. That comes after setting a school record with 137 home runs (second in the NCAA) in 2022.
- 11: Shliger had three hits in a game for the 11th time in his career with 10 coming last season.
- 13: Lorusso had his 13th game as a Terp with three hits in a game with 12 coming last season.
- 22: Lorusso had his 22nd game at Maryland multiple RBIs, he did it 20 times last year.
- 30: With two hits, Zmarzlak had his 30th career game with multiple hits in a game at Maryland. He had 19 last season.
Up Next
- The Terps head to No. 4 Ole Miss for a three-game series that starts on Friday, Feb. 24 in Oxford, MS with a 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT first pitch. All three games in the series will be carried on SEC Network Plus and can be heard on the Maryland Baseball Network.
