IOWA CITY, IOWA – Maryland (16-9, 1-0 B1G) came back from a 5-0 first-inning deficit, taking down No. 22 Iowa (19-5, 0-1 B1G) in the Terps' Big Ten opener on Friday afternoon in Iowa City. Friday's win now makes it four-straight wins for the Terps and Maryland handed Iowa its first home loss of the season.
Friday was the Matt Shaw show once again, hitting two home runs, including a go-ahead moonshot grand slam in the top of the sixth, giving the Terps a 7-6 lead. He and Nick Lorusso went back-to-back in the eighth, giving the junior 10 homers on the season. Lorusso hit his team-leading 11th homer of the season, extending his Big Ten lead in RBI as he now has 41 on the year.
David Falco Jr. recorded his fifth-career save in the win, throwing a scoreless ninth inning, one of two relievers for the Terps to throw a scoreless inning along with
Kenny Lippman. The Maryland bullpen did well in relief, keeping Iowa's offense in check as the Terps kept the ball rolling offensively.
Things started out rough for the Terps as Iowa hit two home runs in the bottom of the first inning, taking a 5-0 lead on starting pitcher Jason Savacool. Keaton Anthony delivered the big blow in the inning, hitting a grand slam.
It took the Terps until the fifth inning to get on the board as Hawkeyes starting pitcher Brody Brecht set a new career-high with 13 strikeouts in five innings pitched. However, Maryland was able to get three runs across, beginning with an RBI single from Lorusso. Shaw followed with an RBI single of his own, and a balk with the bases loaded cut the lead to 5-3 at that point.
Maryland scored its runs in bunches on Friday, with a three-spot in the fifth, four runs in the sixth and three in the eighth. All three runs in the eighth came via solo home runs from
Elijah Lambros, Lorusso and Shaw.
Savacool, despite his early struggles, gave up one run in his final four innings on the mound, striking out five over five innings of work. Down the stretch, the Terps made some key defensive plays, including Lambros robbing a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning and
Luke Shliger throwing out a runner at second in the bottom of the ninth.
Breaking Down The Action
- Iowa got Friday's game started with a bang in the bottom of the first inning as Anthony hit a grand slam, to put the Hawkeyes up 4-0.
- Petersen followed with a solo home run as the Hawkeyes put up a five-spot in the first at 5-0.
- Maryland got on the board in the top of the fifth inning after an RBI single from Lorusso, cutting the score to 5-1.
- Shaw continued the fifth-inning rally for the Terps, cutting the score to 5-2 after poking a single into right-center field. A balk with the bases loaded followed later in the inning as Maryland put up three runs in the fifth, trailing 5-3.
- Tello answered back for Iowa in the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo home run to go up 6-3.
- Shaw put Maryland in front, 7-6, for the first time in the top of the sixth inning, launching a grand slam well over the left-center field wall.
- Iowa tied the game at 7-7 as Moss was hit with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh inning.
- Lambros gave Maryland the lead at 8-7 back in the top of the eighth inning with a solo home run.
- The Terps hit three solo home runs in the inning as Lorusso and Shaw followed with back-to-back shots to make it 10-7.
- Iowa tacked on two runs in the bottom of the eighth, cutting the lead to 10-9 after an Anthony RBI double and Tello RBI sac fly.
By The Numbers
- 3: Home runs hit by Maryland in the top of the eighth inning.
- 4: Shaw had four hits in a game for the second time in three games and is hitting 9-for-12 (.750) over his last four games.
- 5: Falco Jr., had his fifth career save, second this season.
- 6: Shaw had a season-best six RBIs, two shy of his career-high of eight RBI in a game last season vs. Michigan.
- 6: Number of grand slams for Maryland's offense after Shaw's sixth-inning blast, his first of the season.
- 7: The Terps scored 10 or more runs in a game for the seventh time this season.
- 10: Number of home runs for Shaw this season following a two-homer day on Friday. He's the second Terp to reach double-digits in the category this season.
- 11: Lorusso's 2023 home run total, currently the team leader in the category.
- 15: Shaw has recorded at least a hit in 15 of his last 16 games, including four on Friday.
- 24: Number of consecutive games with a hit for Lorusso following his fifth-inning RBI single.
- 41: Number of RBI this season for Lorusso following a two-RBI day on Friday, leading the Terps and the Big Ten. He's currently fifth in the country in RBI.
Up Next
- The Terps and Hawkeyes will continue their weekend series at 3:05 p.m. Saturday. The game will be broadcast on B1G+ and the Maryland Baseball Network.
