Despite an uncharacteristically rough outing from Ryan Ramsey, Matt Shaw and the No. 17 Maryland offense tallied a Big Ten record 20 runs in its 20-6 defeat of Michigan on Saturday night. 

Shaw came into the day tied for fourth in the conference in home runs. By the end of the night, Shaw was tied for first.

The sophomore capped off a career-night with a grand slam for his third homer of the game and tied the school record with 8 RBIs. 

“He’s incredible. I’ve seen that from day one,” Head Coach Rob Vaughn said. “He’s worked his tail off to get himself right.” 

While starter Ryan Ramsey was coming off a historic night himself with a perfect game during his last home start, his shaky opening frame was a sign of things to come for the left-hander. 

After loading the bases three times on Friday, the Wolverines filled the bases in the first inning on Saturday. Catcher Jimmy Obertop doubled home two runners to open the scoring. One inning later, second baseman Ted Burton cleared the left center field wall to put Michigan ahead 3-0.

But the Terps offense was quick to pick up Ramsey. The Terps plated seven runs in the second inning, beginning with a Bobby Zmarzlak RBI single. Three hitters later, Luke Shliger hit a two-run double off the batter’s eye to tie the score at 3-3. 

Chris Alleyne welcomed junior Cameron Weston to the game with an RBI double down the third base line. After a Nick Lorusso walk, Matt Shaw connected on a three-run shot to give Maryland a 7-3 lead.

The Wolverines answered right back in the third. After hitting the game-tying three-run homer yesterday, Matt Frey hit a two-run shot to center field to cut Maryland’s lead to two.

The back-and-forth affair continued into the bottom frame as freshman Ian Petrutz delivered with a two-run single down the first-base line. In the following inning, Matt Shaw hit his second blast of the game just over the outstretched arm of right fielder Clark Elliott to extend the Terps’ lead to 10-5.

Michigan tacked on one in the fifth on an RBI single from Riley Bertram. Ramsey’s outing ended at the conclusion of the fifth inning. The lefty gave up six earned runs on four hits and walked six over 108 pitches.

After using five pitchers last night, freshman Noah Mrotek gave the Terps some much needed relief innings. The righty went three innings, allowed just one hit and struck out two.

Vaughn was pleased with Mrotek’s performance and is looking forward to his future at Maryland. 

“Noah’s going to pitch major, major impact innings throughout his career,” Vaughn said. “Major ones down the stretch as we move into postseason baseball, so for him to go out and have a really good night tonight is good for us and a good step for him in his career development.”

After relinquishing a 7-0 lead on Friday night, Maryland made sure there would be no Michigan comeback on Saturday night. The club added five more in the seventh, highlighted by Shaw’s grand slam, giving him eight RBIs on the night. The last Terrapin with an eight RBI game was Will Watson back in May 2018. 

Saturday night’s performance raised the shortstop’s average 14 points. After going through a midseason slump, Shaw is happy to have regained his swing.

“I’m just glad that the pieces are coming together,” he said. “I’m just glad to be in the right direction.”  

The Terps added two more in the eighth thanks to RBI singles from Ian Petrutz and Luke Shliger. Both Petrutz and Shliger had 3 RBIs apiece. 

After scoring 17 runs on 16 hits, Maryland’s offense was not done. Nick Lorusso capped off the team’s prolific night at the plate with a three-run blast to right-center field.

One of the keys to this year’s offensive success has been the depth of Maryland’s lineup, Vaughn said.  

“That’s what’s been fun about this offense. It’s been somebody different throughout the year. We’ve had the top carry us, we’ve had the middle carry us, we’ve had the bottom carry us, and I think that’s what makes this team good,” the fifth-year head coach said. “There’s just no let up. If you make mistakes, they can hammer baseballs.” 

Right-hander Will Glock worked a perfect ninth, closing out the game on a strikeout of pinch-hitter Casey Buckley. 

The Terps look for their second weekend sweep of the season tomorrow at noon. Nick Dean is set to start for Maryland while Chase Allen is slated to take the mound for Michigan.