Maryland’s plate discipline ended the game before it started, as Georgetown faced a four-run deficit without recording an out.

Maryland baseball (6-2) put together a dominant 14-5 win over Georgetown (3-5) on a rainy day in College Park.

While the Hoyas pitching struggled, Maryland’s was sharp. Ryan Van Buren was dealing all afternoon in his second start of the season. The junior righty went six innings with seven strikeouts (career highs) while allowing one walk and five earned runs.

Van Buren made a couple of mistakes, starting with the leadoff batter. Outfielder Jake Hyde wasted no time, hitting a home run to give the Hoyas a 1-0 lead in the first. The senior is now on a streak of three straight games with a home run. However, this lead did not last long.

Georgetown’s starting pitcher Johan Franco struggled to find the strike zone, allowing Maryland to tie the game. In his first four batters faced, he hit two and walked two, throwing just one strike on 14 pitches. Franco was pulled from the game before recording an out.

Alex Calarco brought two home on a double to deep left field. After allowing two more walks and hit by pitch, the Hoyas faced a 5-1 hole and still had not recorded an out. Back-to-back sacrifice flies extended the lead before Georgetown finally ended the inning. The Terps recorded seven runs with just one hit.

Senior Kevin Keister kept the runs rolling in the second with a two-run home run. In a 2-0 count, Keister barrelled a pitch that everyone in the stadium knew was gone right away, his first of the season.

Keister had possibly his best game of the season, going 1-for-3 with four RBIs and two walks.

Hyde continued to provide offense for the Hoyas, hitting his second solo home run of the day in the third to dead-center.

The Terps offense continued applying pressure. Senior Sam Hojnar hit a solo home run in the third to straight-away center. Hojnar is coming off an eight-RBI weekend and now has 12 on the season. 

Georgetown earned runs in the sixth inning from someone other than Hyde. Catcher Owen Carapellotti hit a two-run triple and was brought home on a Josh Rolling double that barely landed fair in right field.

After some more back-and-forth scoring, freshman Duke McCarron closed the door on the Hoyas, securing the Maryland win. McCarron went three innings allowing just one hit and one walk.

Following the win, Maryland faces a busy week with another midweek matchup on Wednesday in Richmond against VCU. Van Buren’s six innings is crucial for the Maryland bullpen, which should be better rested for tomorrow’s game.