Last year’s Terps had a lot of fight in them, as seen during their 19-6 run to end the season — the best record out of any Power Five conference school in that span.
A handful of those wins came from behind, displaying Maryland’s undying ability to never give up. And no game encapsulates that ability better than the Terps comeback effort against Ohio State on April 18.
Looking to sweep the Ohio State Buckeyes at home, the Terps fell in an early 0-4 hole in the third inning. The early damage came on a handful of successive hits, including back-to-back doubles.
Jason Savacool was on the mound for the series finale, but it wasn’t the start he was looking for as he already surrendered five hits and hit one batter through 2 1/3 innings. Rest assured, he was able to navigate out of the ugly third inning with the four runs being the only damage he’d allow in his outing.
It didn’t take long for the comeback effort to spark, as Bobby Zmarzlak led off the bottom of the third with a home run on the first pitch he saw.
Five batters later, Maxwell Costes came up to bat with two runners on base — courtesy of a walk and hit batter — and with two outs in the frame, he delivered on the biggest hit of the game. Costes took a 1-0 pitch and blasted it off the Varsity Team House, knotting up the score at 4-4.
The game-tying home run completely changed the momentum of the game, and the results were seen in the very next inning. Tommy Gardiner walked, Zmarzlak walked, and after a Kevin Keister sacrifice bunt, Chris Alleyne was in prime position to give Maryland the lead.
Ahead in the count, 2-0, Alleyne shot the ball down the right field line for a two-run double, giving Maryland a 6-4 lead that would only expand throughout the rest of the game.
In the sixth inning, Alleyne manufactured his own run — getting on base with a single, stealing second, stealing third, and finally scoring on a wild pitch.
Matt Shaw followed up Alleyne with a walk, setting up Benjamin Cowles for a big at-bat. And what would the 9-0 scoring run be without a Benjamin Cowles home run?
Cowles capped off the comeback — or what now almost looks like a blowout — with a two-run bomb. The cherry on top of a 9-4 win that started with the Terps in an 0-4 deficit.
Maryland Baseball Network 