After dropping game one on Friday against Minnesota, the Maryland Terrapins looked to right the ship and keep their bid alive for 22 straight conference series wins. The Terps allowed four home runs to a Minnesota team that had only hit 25 on the season coming into Friday’s game. Jason Savacool was on the bump and looked to prevent the long ball bug from striking again.

Thanks to a great outing from Savacool and even better hitting, the Terps were able to take game two from the Golden Gophers, forcing a rubber match on Sunday. Out-homered yesterday, Maryland cranked three out of the park en route to a dominant 14-5 win at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium on Saturday.

Just as they did in game one, the Golden Gophers were held scoreless in the top of the first and the Terps struck quickly in the bottom half of the inning. After a two-out Nick Lorusso walk, Eddie Hacopian lined a single into shallow center field for the first hit and run of the game as Lorusso scored.

A pair of double plays kept both teams scoreless until the bottom of the third. Matt Shaw reached first on an errant throw and quickly advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two pitches later, Lorusso sent Shaw home on another RBI single. With it, Lorusso became Maryland’s all-time leader in RBIs. Later in the inning, an Elijah Lambros single scored Hacopian and Ian Petrutz.

Not wanting the game to get away early, Minnesota responded with an Ike Mezzenga solo home run, but the Terps responded quickly. With Luke Shliger and Kevin Keister on base, Shaw crushed a no-doubt three-run homer to break the game open at 7-1. With three RBIs on that swing, Shaw tied Lorusso for the all-time record set just the inning prior. That ended the day for Minnesota’s George Klassen. Matt Woods immediately welcomed new pitcher Sam Malec to the game with a quick two-run blast to extend the Terps’ lead to 9-1.

Maryland starter Jason Savacool, who had some shaky starts in his most recent appearances, was crucial in the early half of the game. Through five innings of work, Savacool allowed five hits with just one earned run and six strikeouts.

The runs continued to pile on for the Terps as they put up five runs in the bottom of the fifth thanks to Woods’ second home run of the game, a three-run blast. Lorusso had an RBI and took back the all-time crown.

Minnesota was able to get two back after a multitude of fielding and throwing errors by the Terrapin infield, but the Gophers left two on and the lead stayed at 14-3.

After allowing two baserunners and with his pitch count over 100, Savacool was replaced by Andrew Johnson. Both teams went scoreless from that point on until Minnesota was able to score again on another Maryland error in the top of the eighth.

Up by 10 in the top of the ninth, Caleb Estes, the infielder, came on in relief of Andrew Johnson. After allowing a quick single and a run later, Estes and the Terps hung on for the win 14-5.