The middle innings were rather quiet, as Maryland and Georgetown combined for just one run over those three frames during Tuesday’s midweek at “The Bob.” However, the Hoyas entered play with heightened motivation after its loss to the Terps earlier this season, and that soon became apparent.

After a back-and-forth first three innings saw each side score five runs apiece, the Hoyas plated one in the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. That scoreline held into the top of the seventh, despite the Hoyas out-hitting the Terps by five.

The seventh inning featured Georgetown’s third consecutive frame with a bases-loaded opportunity. Terps reliever Devin Milberg mediated the damage in the fifth and sixth innings, but he departed with the bags juiced and just one out in the seventh. 

Four pitches after Milberg’s departure, the Hoyas decisively broke through. Second baseman Jeremy Sheffield sent a screamer over the right field wall for an opposite-field grand slam, making it 10-5 in favor of the visiting Hoyas. 

The Terps — like they’d done so many times already this season — had already crawled back from an early deficit. But after Sheffield’s tide-shifting blast, Maryland’s mountain was too high to climb. The Terps fell to the Hoyas, 11-7 in the pair’s second meeting this season. 

The loss was Maryland’s fifth in a row and seventh in its past eight contests.

Tuesday’s matchup was announced just a day prior after Georgetown’s previously scheduled game against Delaware State was canceled. 

“We’ve got to play 56 games,” said head coach Matt Swope. “We always want to play; we always want to compete. It’s a blessing to play baseball. We knew we needed to add a game at some point.”

Unfortunately for the two teams, the bipolar DMV weather that both are accustomed to reared its ugly head. After fluctuating between 60 and 70 degrees this weekend, Tuesday featured 40-degree weather with a wind chill that made it feel like it was actually in the low 30s. 

The Hoyas started the scoring instantly thanks to center fielder Jackson Thomas. The freshman hit a single, stole second, and beat a throw to the plate on another hit to put Georgetown ahead 1-0 before Terps starter Joey McMannis had even logged two outs. 

Thomas had an impressive day, finishing with three hits and a walk in five at-bats. He later scored another run and swiped an additional bag as well.

The Terps responded in the bottom half of the second after Hollis Porter smacked a leadoff single and eventually came around to score. 

Both offenses exploded for four runs in the third inning. 

For the Terps, it was highlighted by a 411-foot three-run blast by Porter — his 13th of the year. The long ball also put Porter in a tie with Alex Calarco for the team’s lead. 

However, from that point on, the Terps’ offense fell almost completely silent. Maryland failed to score over the next four innings, managing just one hit during that stretch as well. 

The bullpen, although not perfect, turned in a solid performance to keep the Hoyas’ offense at bay. Milberg highlighted the bullpen effort, stranding five of the 11 runners that Georgetown left on base on Tuesday. 

But Milberg’s habit of letting runners reach base put the Terps in a tough spot during the seventh, causing Swope to turn to graduate reliever Jack Wren. The righty inherited the unfortunate bases-loaded situation and ultimately surrendered the game-altering grand slam to Sheffield.

“Those are the situations that you bring guys in for,” Swope said. “We need outs right? It’s great he did well after that but that was the spot, and that was really the game for them. You live for those moments. We just have had a lot of those moments not go our way this season.”

The Terps broke out of their offensive slump and got a run across in the eighth. They scored once more and loaded the bases in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate with one out. But at that point, the Terps’ miraculous comeback effort was fully reliant on the bottom of their order. 

A popout and strikeout ended the effort as Maryland fell back to .500 (4-4) in midweek games this season.

“I think there are positives at a lot of different positions,” Swope said. “We just got to be more consistent.”

The Terps, now losers of five straight, will immediately be back in action tomorrow when they face Delaware on the road. Like the Hoyas today, the Terps will be looking for a reprieve against a team they lost to earlier this season.

First pitch of tomorrow’s game is set for 5 p.m., with Tyler Lochte on the call for MBN.