ORLANDO, FL – Maryland (14-9) clinched a series win against UCF (16-8) with an 8-6 win against the Knights on Sunday afternoon at John Euliano Park in Orlando, Fla.
Combining their season-opening series against USF, the Terps went 4-2 in the state of Florida during non-conference play.
Sunday afternoon was all about freshman left-hander Kyle McCoy, who had a career day against the Knights, throwing a career-high eight shutout innings while striking out a career-high nine batters, including two of the last three batters he faced. It was McCoy's second-straight win on the bump for the Terps as he retired the first 14 batters he faced on Sunday.
McCoy was dealing on the mound and Matt Shaw was going off at the plate, building off Saturday's performance with a pair of two-run homers, giving himself three on the weekend. Shaw had a four-hit afternoon with five RBIs and two runs scored.
Both Nick Lorusso and Matt Woods extended their hitting streaks, with Lorusso's now at 22 games and Woods now at 12 games for the Terps. Lorusso also scored three runs, tying a season-high for him. Jacob Orr had himself a multi-hit game with an RBI, one of four Maryland players with mutli-hit games on the afternoon. The Terps recorded 11 hits in the win.
Rob Vaughn's Take
"He [
Kyle McCoy] was outstanding, that lineup is good and they're dangerous, he did a good job of mixing pitches and was ahead in the count... there weren't a lot of balls off of him hit hard and you can't ask for a better start from a young guy on a Sunday in a big game for us."
"I thought the lineup really functioned well together, they played well together and they were really just unselfish.
Matt Woods was outstanding today, that isn't an easy at-bat against a lefty [Jacob Marlowe] and he was on the barrel all three at-bats against him, so overall a really good effort by the whole team out there."
Breaking Down The Action
- Matt Woods struck first for Maryland with an RBI single in the top of the fourth inning, 1-0.
- Matt Shaw came through in the sixth with his second two-run homer in as many days in the top of the sixth inning, 3-0.
- Shaw hit his second two-run homer of the game in the top of the eighth inning and third of the series for Maryland, 5-0.
- Elijah Lambros added to Maryland's lead in the eighth, scoring off a wild pitch. Jacob Orr made it a four-run inning for the Terps with an RBI single, 7-0.
- Shaw continued his monster day at the plate with an RBI double in the top of the ninth, 8-0.
- UCF ends the shutout in the bottom of the ninth inning as a wild pitch scores Josten. Romano added another run on an RBI single, 8-2.
- Faurot made things incredibly interesting in the ninth with a grand slam, cutting Maryland's lead to just two runs, 8-6.
By The Numbers
- 2: Number of consecutive days with two-run homers for Matt Shaw.
- 2: Number of multi-home run games for Shaw this season.
- 3: Homers during this weekend's series for Matt Shaw
- 3: Matt Woods recorded the first RBI of all three games in Orlando.
- 8: Innings pitched by freshman starter Kyle McCoy, a career-high.
- 9: Number of strikeouts for McCoy on Sunday, a career-high.
- 12: Number of consecutive games with a hit for Matt Woods after his second-inning single. Woods is now hitting .425 (20-for-47) during his current hitting streak.
- 14: Consecutive UCF batters retired by McCoy to begin Sunday's game.
- 22: The number of consecutive games with a hit for Nick Lorusso.
Up Next
- The Terps return home for one game against Georgetown at Bob 'Turtle' Smith Stadium at 4 p.m. Tuesday. The game will be broadcast on B1G+ and the Maryland Baseball Network.
