WINSTON-SALEM, NC – A historic season for No. 19 Maryland came to an end in heartbreaking fashion in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, as the Terps dropped their elimination game, 11-10, against A-10 tournament champion George Mason on a walk-off sacrifice fly on Sunday afternoon.
The high-scoring affair started by Maryland (42-21) spotting three runs to the Patriots in the first inning. After George Mason took the early edge, the Terps unleashed their offensive attack by scoring eight unanswered runs in the third and fourth innings.
Kevin Keister and
Matt Shaw each launched opposite-field home runs to even the score before
Elijah Lambros broke the tie with a go-ahead two-run single. Maryland added three more runs in the fourth on a pair of doubles from
Nick Lorusso and
Eddie Hacopian to build a five-run advantage.
George Mason responded in the fourth inning, driving in seven runs to take a 10-8 advantage, but
Matt Woods tied the score with a two-run shot in the sixth inning to keep the Terps in it.
The contest remained tied for the next two innings, as
Kenny Lippman pitched 3.0 shutout frames to keep the Patriots at bay. George Mason nearly reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the seventh on a double from Alex Knapp, but the Terps cut down Reece Woody trying to score the go-ahead run as Lambros, Shaw and
Luke Shliger connected on a perfect relay.
Maryland had an opportunity to claim the lead in the top of the ninth, as the Terps composed a two-out scoring opportunity. Lambros got aboard with a single, and he was followed by back-to-back walks from Shliger. However, Maryland could not capitalize on the scoring opportunity, as the Patriots averted the threat and recorded the walk-off hit in the ninth.
Shaw, Lambros, Woods and
Eddie Hacopian each recorded multi-RBI outings, combining for eight RBI. Shliger also continued his record-setting reached-base streak by going 2-for-4 at the dish with a walk and a double. He finished the season reaching base in 61 consecutive games.
Record-Setting Year
- The Terps finished the 2023 campaign with 42 wins, tied for the second-most wins in program history, while finishing with a 42-21 record.
- Maryland became the first repeat Big Ten regular-season champion since Indiana in 2013-14, posting a 17-7 record in the conference.
- Rob Vaughn's squad also captured its first-ever Big Ten Tournament title, going an undefeated 4-0 in the tournament which culminated in a 4-0 win over Iowa in the tournament final.
- Offensively, the Terps produced one of the greatest seasons in program history, breaking team single-season records in the process:
- Most runs scored (578)
- Most hits (684)
- Most walks (385)
- Most RBIs (552)
- Individually, many Terps rewrote the record books by breaking several single-season records:
- The Terps also set numerous career records in 2023:
Breaking Down The Action
- George Mason got on the board first with a two-run double from Connor Dykstra, putting the Patriots up 2-0 in the first inning. Brett Stalli added another run with an RBI single to make it 3-0 later in the frame.
- Keister got the Terps on the board in the third inning, leading off the stanza. with an opposite-field solo home run, cutting the deficit to 3-1.
- Shaw knotted the contest a 3-3 later in the third on a two-run blast.
- Lambros capped off Maryland's third-inning rally with a two-run single to give the Terps a 5-3 edge.
- The Terps added three more runs to their advantage in the fourth, padding their 8-3 lead with a Nick Lorusso RBI double and a two-run double from Hacopian.
- The Patriots retook a 10-8 lead in the fourth by scoring seven runs, capped off by a go-ahead three-run home run from Dykstra.
- Woods drew the game level at 10-10 with a two-run blast in the sixth inning.
- As George Mason attempted to take a lead on a double in the seventh inning, Lambros, Shaw and Shliger teamed up for a perfect relay to tag out Reece Woody at the plate.
- Stalli ended the contest in the ninth with a walk-off sacrifice fly.
By The Numbers
- 10: Keister's third-inning home run gave him 10 big flies on the season, making him the seventh Terrapin to hit 10+ home runs this year.
- 12: Woods' sixth-inning homer gave him 12 on the season,
- 13: Lorusso's first-inning single extended his reached-base streak to 13 games.
- 14: With X RBI, Lambros recorded his 14th multi-RBI game of the year.
- 18: Shaw drove in multiple RBI for the 18th time this season.
- 22: The Terps scored in double figures for the 22nd in 2023.
- 24: Shaw's home run in the third inning marked his 24th of the campaign, tying him with Chris Alleyne (2022) for the second-most in a single season in Maryland baseball history.
- 61: Shliger's record-setting reached-base streak hit 61 games on a third-inning single.
- 97: After driving in one run, Keister is three RBI shy of the 100th of his career.
- 100: Lorusso notched two hits to put his season total at 100, breaking the Maryland single-season hit record of 98 set by John McCurdy in 2002. Additionally, the Monroe, CT native became the first Terp to record 100 hits in a year.
- 105: Lorusso added to his nation-leading RBI total, driving in a run to push his season count to 105 RBI. With his 100 hits on the season, Lorusso became the first player to record 100 hits and 100 RBI in a season since New Mexico State's Billy Belcher accomplished the feat (105 hits, 118 RBI) in 2003.
- 175: Lorusso continued to build his program RBI record by driving in the 175 RBI of his career in College Park.
- 578: The Terps have scored 578 runs this season, surpassing last season's 572 runs for the highest-scoring year in program history.
- 684: Maryland notched 11 hits, putting its season total at 684, breaking the program record for most hits in a season. The mark of 683 was set last season by the 2022 squad.
