After taking the lead in the first, Maryland, looking for more, loaded the bases against Richmond. Suddenly, it looked like the Terps may have ruined a perfect scoring opportunity after the Spiders’ Aidan O’Keefe showed his athleticism at third, catching a lineout and diving onto the bag for a double-play.

But Paul Jones II wasn’t going to let the opportunity go to waste for the Terps. With runners on first and second, Jones II blasted a 430-foot moonshot over the center field wall for a three-run home run. After two, the Dirty Terps led by five.

Jones II contributed a team-leading five RBIs in Maryland’s (13-15) 19-4 offensive onslaught victory over the Richmond Spiders (14-15) on Tuesday in College Park.

Freshman right-hander Nic Morlang took the bump for the Terps for his fourth consecutive midweek start. 

After forcing a big swing and miss to sit down Richmond’s leadoff hitter, Morlang put runners on first and third with a walk and single. Richmond capitalized, striking first as freshman Evan Wilson lined a ball straight at senior right fielder Aden Hill. Hill, unable to judge the ball, couldn’t make the catch, allowing one to score and put two men in scoring position. Morlang however, quickly put the early fire out as he gathered his second and third strikeouts against the next two batters to end the inning.

The Dirty Terps quickly got that run back and more in the bottom of the frame.

Maryland immediately got on base with a perfect Brayden Martin bunt single and Jordan Crosland walk. With Ty Kaunas at bat, it looked as if he hit a double-play ball straight at Richmond starter Glenn Smith. The right-hander threw the ball straight past his third baseman, allowing Martin to score. 

Back-to-back sacrifice flies from Rylen Stockton and Jones II put Maryland up two, but the Terps still weren’t done. Jackson Sirois finished off the first inning scoring after belting a two-run shot to left-center field for his second home run in the Terps’ last three games.

The Spiders were able to get two back in the second inning after senior Michael Elko hit a two-RBI single to right.

The Terps came out swinging again in the second. Singles from Devin Russell and Martin and a walk by Jordan Crosland loaded the bases with no outs. After the stellar play by O’Keefe at third gave Richmond two quick outs, up to bat came Jones II. Jones II sent a long homer to center to extend the Dirty Terps lead to 8-3.

Head coach Matt Swope decided to turn the ball over to junior righty Andrew Koshy to begin the third.

Morlang finished his day allowing four hits, two walks, and three runs over his two innings of work. He also tied a career-high four strikeouts.

In Koshy’s first inning of work he set down Richmond’s lineup 1-2-3 with one strikeout.

After Hill reached second base on a walk and steal, Martin recorded his first RBI of the day on his third hit in just the first three innings.

“The coaches, everybody kind of found some tells and some things that helped me at bat, kinda helped everybody, but just a team effort,” said Martin.

In the fourth, Koshy hit two consecutive batters, putting runners on first and second. A passed ball allowed both runners to advance after Russell couldn’t make the throw in time to third. With two runners in scoring position, Koshy allowed the runner on third to score on an RBI groundout, but Russell was able to redeem himself as freshman shortstop Noah Harvey was picked off at third to end the inning.

The Terps extended their lead to 11 after a six-run explosion in the bottom of the frame. An RBI walk gave Martin his fourth time on base in four innings, Crosland hit a two-RBI single and three other Terps hit RBI singles.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Cristofer Cespedes came out of the pen for the fifth inning. He pitched the second 1-2-3 inning of the game for the Terps while striking out two in the process.

Russell recorded his first RBI of the day in the bottom of the fifth after a solo homer to center. His only other home run this season came in Maryland’s previous game against Richmond. Kaunas later followed with an RBI double to push the score to 17-4 Maryland.

In the sixth, Swope opted to send his Friday night starter to the mound, sophomore right-hander Lance Williams. In Williams’ first relief appearance of the season, he allowed zero runs after a double-play ended the inning. 

“He wanted to feel it out on the mound so we threw him out there and had some success so I’m glad he kinda bounce back off last Friday,” Swope said.

With a comfortable 13-run inning entering the sixth, Swope elected to bring in some of his young guys. To lead off the inning, he had freshman Franklin Pichardo Jr. take the place of Stockton. Pichardo Jr. got on base with a double and soon crossed home plate after Sirois hit his second two-run home run of the game.

Martin picked up his fourth hit in the inning, however was unable to score his fourth run.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher entered in the seventh, wrapping up the blowout victory with a 1-2-3 inning of his own.

“Going back, even all the way back to UCLA, I’ve been super happy with the offensive effort,” Swope said. “The ability to battle versus some really really tough teams and do really well offensively.”

The Dirty Terps will try to secure their first Big Ten series win of the season as they travel to Columbus, Ohio this weekend for a series against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Tune into MBN’s broadcast with Ryan Martin at 6 p.m. Friday for the first pitch of the series.