Maryland baseball looked to win its first series of the year against UNC Wilmington, and in the rubber match, the rubber met the road for the Dirty Terps.

The Terps were coming off a loss earlier Saturday in Game 1 of a doubleheader, but the pitching staff and some timely offense was enough to give Maryland (2-1) the series win against UNC-Wilmington (1-2).

The first run of the game came in the bottom of the first inning, when Trevor Lucas hit a single up the middle, scoring JP Pennella. Last year, the Terps were 11-18 when their opponents scored first, and early on, it looked like that trend might continue.

The Terps had an opportunity to score in the top of the third inning with the bases loaded, but Ryan Costello, who hit a home run in the first game of the doubleheader, struck out looking.

However in the top of the fourth, Jackson Sirois, one of the newcomers to the team, was able to get the Terps on the board. The UVA transfer hit a base hit to right field, scoring Jordan Crossland to even the game at 1.

In the bottom of the inning, Brayden Martin had not one, but two critical plays for the Terps: first, laying out for a diving catch that would have otherwise scored two runs. Then on the next batter, he gunned down Seahawk third baseman Trevor Lucas to end the inning.

The Terps were able to keep that momentum going into the fifth inning, as another transfer, Ryan Costello continued his hot start to the season with a base hit up the middle to give the Terps their first lead of the day.

A sacrifice fly in the 8th inning from David Mendez gave the Terps an insurance run, and they would add on in the 9th with two RBI singles from Rylen Stockton and Antonio Morales.

And fittingly, the game ended on a 5-4-3 double play- their third of that kind in the contest.

Righty Jake Yeager made his season debut for the Terps, going 4 innings, and allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 1 walk. Logan Hastings pitched 4 impressive innings in relief, allowing no hits and only one walk to go with four strikeouts.

Bromley Thornton went 4.1 innings on 5 hits and 2 earned runs for the Seahawks. 

For a Maryland team that only won two games last year when scoring five runs or less, this was a good sign of how the pitching staff can pick up the offense this year.

The Terps head home to College Park for their home opener Tuesday against the Georgetown Hoyas. First pitch is set for 4:00 PM at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium, and you can listen to the game live right here on MBN.