OMAHA, NE – Maryland baseball won its first-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship beating Iowa, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. The top-seeded and No. 23 ranked Terps (41-19 overall) secured the Big Ten's NCAA Tournament automatic qualifier with the victory. Maryland will learn about its NCAA Tournament and Regional on Monday at Noon on ESPN2 in the Selection Show.
Maryland won its first-ever conference tournament championship in history spanning both the ACC and Big Ten. The Terps were playing in their second-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship Game, advancing to the final in 2015.
After five innings of scoreless baseball, the Terps broke through for three runs in the fifth inning on a pair of home runs from Kevin Keister and Nick Lorusso. Facing the formidable Jack Whitlock, Keister opened by turning on a breaking ball and belting a two-run jack into the Maryland bullpen. Three batters later, Lorusso hit his 23rd home run of the season on a high fly ball that just cleared the left-field fence.
On Sunday, Maryland's pitching staff continued its tournament brilliance in a collective effort, as the five pitchers used by Rob Vaughn recorded the Terps' second Big Ten Tournament shutout ever. In total, the Terps only gave up five runs across Big Ten Tournament action for a 1.22 ERA.
The Terps posted their first Big Ten Tournament shutout since 2016 (a 3-0 win over Indiana) and just the second-ever in a Big Ten Tournament Championship game with the only other one coming in 1989 when Illinois beat Michigan, 2-0, to claim the title.
Kenny Lippman (8-1) earned the win with a dominant performance in relief, setting down all eight Hawkeyes he faced. After entering the fourth inning with two runners on base, the fifth-year right-hander induced a double play and a soft groundout to keep Iowa (42-14) off the board. In his next two frames, Lippman retired the side in order to allow for the offensive outburst.
Before Lippman's appearance, Ryan Van Buren earned the starting nod for the final, opening with two innings of scoreless ball while working himself out a pair of Iowa scoring opportunities. In both the first and second, the Hawkeyes got runners on first and second, but the freshman right-hander got Maryland out of both situations. Andrew Johnson came on in the third frame, pitching one inning and getting the Terps out of the inning after a two-out double.
Lippman exited after the sixth inning, leaving Nate Haberthier and David Falco Jr. to handle the seventh. After a leadoff walk, Falco coaxed a double play to keep Iowa scoreless.
Falco closed out the contest for the Terps, tossing 2.2 scoreless frames while striking out a pair of Hawkeyes, .
The Maryland offense added another run in the sixth inning, as Jacob Orr's RBI single padded the lead after an Eddie Hacopian leadoff double.
Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player Lorusso notched his 99th RBI of the season, extending his nation-leading total, while Keister recorded his 13th multi-RBI contest of the campaign. Hacopian notched his second consecutive multi-hit effort, going 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Additionally, Luke Shliger extended his 58-game reached-base streak with a hit-by-pitch and a walk.
Breaking Down The Action
- Maryland opened the scoring in the fifth inning, going up 2-0 on a two-run home run from Keister.
- Lorusso added a solo shot of his own later in the fifth inning, putting the Terps up 3-0.
- Orr drove in an insurance run for Maryland, extending the advantage to 4-0 with an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Tournament Champions
- This marks the first time Maryland baseball has ever won a conference tournament championship, having played in the ACC (1973-78, 1980-2014) and the Big Ten (2015-present) Tournaments.
- Overall, it marks the seventh conference championship for baseball, including six regular-season titles, having won the Southern Conference in 1936, the ACC in 1965, 1970 and 1971 and the Big Ten the last two years in 2022 and 2023.
- In all sports, this was Maryland's 49th Big Ten Championship (including regular-season and tournament titles) since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15. Only Michigan (78) and Ohio State (59) have more since Maryland joined the conference.
- The Terps have now won 19 Big Ten Tournament Championships in six different sports: women's basketball (5), men's lacrosse (4), women's lacrosse (4), men's soccer (3), field hockey (2), and baseball (1).
Lorusso Named Tournament's Most Outstanding Player
- After a pair of clutch performances, Nick Lorusso was named the 2023 Big Ten Tournament's Most Outstanding Player
- Across the weekend, the Monroe, CT product hit .267 while recording two home runs, three RBI, two runs scored and eight assists (the most by any third baseman in the tournament).
- Lorusso's hits came in the clutch, as he sent the Terps to the semifinals with a walk-off home run in the 10th inning against Nebraska on Thursday.
- Along with Lorusso, Shliger and Jason Savacool were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team.
Tournament History
- Maryland is now 14-9 all-time in Big Ten Tournament play dating to the 2015 tourney.
- The Terps have played in the 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2023 tournaments.
- Maryland's previous best finish came in its first event in 2015, falling to Michigan in the Big Ten Championship game. The Terps won three games in that tournament.
By The Numbers
- 1: Maryland won its first-ever Big Ten Tournament Championship and first-ever conference tournament championship.
- 2: This was just Maryland's second shutout in a Big Ten Tournament game (3-0 over Indiana in 2016) and just the second shutout in a Big Ten Tournament Championship game ever (Illinois, 2-0 win in 1989)
- 2: The Terps recorded their second shutout of 2023 with their first coming on March 19 against Albany.
- 1.22: Maryland concluded its four-game run in the Big Ten Tournament with a team ERA of 1.22.
- 5: Over the course of the Big Ten Tournament, Maryland's pitching staff only allowed five runs across 37 innings.
- 8: Lippman picked up his eighth win of the season, matching Jason Savacool for most on the team.
- 9: Keister launched his ninth home run of 2023 in the fifth inning.
- 13: Keister recorded back-to-back multi-RBI games to put his season total at 13 contests with multiple RBI.
- 23: Eddie Hacopian notched his 23rd multi-hit contest of 2023, tying Keister and Matt Shaw for the second-most on the squad.
- 23: Lorusso mashed his 23rd dinger of 2023, tying him with Shaw for the team and Big Ten Conference lead.
- 49: Overall, Maryland teams have now won a combined 49 Big Ten titles (combined regular-season and tournament championships), third-most among all schools since the Terps joined the conference in 2014-15.
- 58: Shliger's record-setting reached-base streak advanced to 58 games on a hit-by pitch in the third inning.
- 99: Lorusso added to his nation-leading RBI total, driving in one run to put his season count to 99 RBI.
- 169: Lorusso continued to build his program RBI record by driving in the 169th RBI of his career in College Park.
Up Next
- The Terps' season will continue in the 2023 NCAA Baseball Tournament. Regionals start on June 2 and will conclude on June 5. The NCAA Tournament Selection Show will take place on Monday, May 29 at Noon, airing on ESPN2.
