After losing the second game of the series, Maryland was back for the rubber match against the Ole Miss Rebels Sunday at Swayze field. Like it had on Saturday, Maryland’s shaky pitching allowed home run after home run for Ole Miss. After five straight walks to begin the bottom of the seventh, Ole Miss’ Calvin Harris launched a grand slam to enforce a mercy rule as the Rebels took down the Terps 18-8.

The game started poorly for Maryland after both Luke Shliger and Matt Shaw struck out and Nick Lorusso was called out on a full count by way of the new batter’s box violation that says, “the batter must keep at least one foot in the batter’s box throughout the time at bat.” Their bad start continued when Jacob Gonzalez stroked one over the right field wall for a leadoff homer that gave the Rebels an early 1-0 lead.

With two outs to start the second, Rivas walked three straight to load the bases for Elijah Lambros. Lambros, just 1-7 in the series but with two RBI’s in the previous game, spoiled the opportunity when he flew out to right field.

Maryland found their stride in the third when a Shliger single gave Maryland their first hit of the game. Soon after, Lorusso cranked a no-doubter to left field to give the Terps the lead at 2-1.

Also featured in the top of the third was Shaw’s second strikeout of the day. Shaw, one of the best shortstops in all of college baseball, had a poor output in the series going just one-for-five on Friday, zero-for-five with four strikeouts, a career-high, Saturday, and zero-for-four with a walk Sunday.

Maryland’s lead did not last long as Peyton Chatagnier sent a first-pitch bomb into the Terps’ bullpen to tie the game at two. Nate Haberthier, Maryland’s starter, somewhat shaken from his second allowed a home run, walked the next two batters which set up Calvin Harris perfectly as he launched a ball over the wall, narrowly missing Bobby Zmarzlak’s outstretched glove.

Haberthier, shaken up again, allowed a single to Kemp Alderman and walked Anthony Calarco before head coach Rob Vaughn made a call to the bullpen for Kenny Lippman. In 16 appearances last year for Dennison, Lippman had a sub-2.00 ERA but faced a difficult challenge with two men on and no outs. After Ethan Lege lined out, TJ McCants, getting his first start of the series, sent a missile over the wall on a 3-1 count to extend the Rebels’ lead to 8-2.

Things got chippy between Shliger and McCants when McCants stayed in the box to watch his home run a little too long for Shliger’s liking. The two had to be separated when McCants crossed home plate and both sides received warnings.

Ole Miss pitchers had trouble all series when it came to issuing free passes and Rivas was no different when he issued his fourth walk of the day to Keister. After Zmarzlak went down, Lambros came up and redeemed himself when sent one into the bleachers for a two-run shot to cut the lead to 8-4. Unfortunately, Shaw struck out once again, his third already on the day.

The home run derby continued when Lorusso slashed his second of the game, a two run blast, to again cut the lead to 8-6. It was at this point when Mike Bianco decided to go to the bullpen for Mitch Murell. Murell, who appeared in the first game of the series, allowed three hits in two innings on the mound on Friday.

After Ethan Groff scored on a Harris double, Vaughn made his second pitching change as he brought in Tommy Kane to relieve Lippman. Harris would score on the ensuing at-bat to extend the Rebels’ lead 10-6.

Shliger got his revenge on McCants later in the fifth when the Maryland catcher sent a two-run blast over McCants’ head to once again cut down the Ole Miss lead to 10-8. Shliger’s long ball was the eighth combined between the two teams as the long balls came early and often for both sides.

Both teams went scoreless in their next at-bats, but on a full count with two outs and Eddie Hacopian on first, Matt Woods was called out on a pitch he thought walked him to first. Woods said something afterward to the umpire who immediately ejected him. Vaughn quickly got in the umpire’s face and was almost thrown out himself.

After a rare offensive lull Sunday for the Rebels, Alderman got things going again when he hit the ninth home run of the game to expand the Rebel lead to 11-8. With an increased lead and three innings left, Biano decided to go to the bullpen again for Brayden Jones to close the door.

Kane, who looked good in his three innings of work with five strikeouts, loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh and was relieved by Eliakim Stowe. Stowe, who only pitched two-thirds of an inning so far this season, had a tall task ahead of him. He walked Chatagnier, the first batter he faced, hit Gozalez immediately after and then walked Groff to walk in three runs to extend the Rebels’ lead to 14-8 with no outs.

After a horrible outing for Stowe, he was relieved by Andrew Johnson with the bases still loaded and no outs. Facing Harris, who already had a home run today and could possibly end it on a grand slam, Johnson’s pitch was taken deep to end the game early as the Rebels forced a mercy rule winning 18-8 in seven innings.

Harris had a phenomenal series. He was the only player to get a hit off of Jason Savacool when he had two before anyone else got one, and on Sunday he had eight RBIs and was 4-5 at the plate with two home runs including the walk-off.

With the loss, Maryland fell to 3-4 on the year. The team will be back home on Tuesday to play Delaware before heading to Minneapolis for the Cambria College Classic.

Coming off of their stellar offensive performance on Friday night against Ole Miss, the Maryland Terrapins looked to continue their success against the defending College World Series Champions in the second of this three-game series. But, Maryland’s pitching faltered late and their offense was unable to keep up as the Terps fell to the Ole Miss Rebels 12-6 at Swayze Field.

It was the Ole Miss freshman Jayson Saunier that got the start for the Rebels. He immediately hit Luke Shliger on the second pitch of the game and walked Matt Shaw on a full count after. After Shaw popped out and moved Shliger to third, a dropped third strike against Ian Petrutz got behind catcher Calvin Harris and Shliger took off for home but was tagged out to conclude an eventful top of the first.

After Savacool’s phenomenal performance on Friday night, it was senior Nick Dean on the mound today for the Terps. After walking Ethan Groff, Ole Miss’ first of the series, a Kemp Alderman double squeezed right past the glove of Nick Lorusso would help Groff score to take the early lead for Ole Miss.

An Ethan Lege error allowed Hacopian to reach first to start the second followed by a four-pitch walk issued to the transfer Matt Woods as the Ole Miss bullpen loosened up early. A perfectly executed bunt by Kevin Keister loaded the bases for the Terps and the grand slam watch was on again. Instead, an Elijah Lambros sacrifice fly sent home Eddie Hacopian to tie the game at 1-1.

The game would not stay tied for long as Jacob Gonzalez singled on a 3-2 count with two outs to send Lege home from second and take back the lead. Hacopian misjudged the ball’s second bounce, allowing it to bounce off of him and into the outfield which gave Lege all the time he needed to round third and cross home plate.

Enter Petrutz. Coming off of his grand slam in the contest last night, he uncoiled another solo shot in the top of the third to tie the game at two. After hitting Hacopian and walking Keister, Ole Miss brought in Sam Tookoian to relieve Jayson Saunier who was able to get out of the jam.

Tookoian continued his hot relief appearance after getting out of the jam in the third by striking out the side against Maryland to start the fourth. Dean did not fare as well as he worked two outs but loaded bases for Groff as head coach Rob Vaughn started getting arms loose in the bullpen. With the bases juiced, Groff hit a hard single to left field and two crossed home for Ole Miss to once again take the lead. 

After looking untouchable, Tookoian walked three batters to once again load the bases for Maryland and Bobby Zmarzlak. Zmarzlak, having already been in a two-out bases-loaded situation earlier, found himself in a 3-2 count and walked to send in a free run to cut Ole Miss’ lead to one. 

Having seen enough, Ole Miss head coach Mike Bianco made a call to the bullpen and brought in senior Matt Parenteau. Now facing Lambros, Parenteau walked him and Shliger back-to-back and gave the Terps the lead at five. Going into the final third of the game, Maryland was walked nine times and hit by a pitch three times already.

After coming in relief of Nick Dean, freshman Kyle McCoy took the mound and quickly worked two outs before getting out of trouble to end the inning. So far in this series against Ole Miss, pitching has been one of Maryland’s strengths as they have gotten more innings and consistency from their arms than Ole Miss. The Rebels used many of their better relief arms already in the series and it will be a point to look for going into the final game of the series on Sunday.

Rain, having caused a delay in yesterday’s game, continued to be a problem as Ole Miss’ left fielder Reagan Burford slipped twice trying to catch a Shliger pop fly. As a result, Shliger doubled and Zmarzlak scored to extend the lead to two.

The Rebels started showing signs of life on offense when a Harris single, an Anthony Calarco double, and a Lege walk loaded the bases for John Kramer who pinch-hit for Will Furniss. Vaughn had seen enough and decided to bring in the sophomore Nigel Belgrave in relief of McCoy. Having worked back from the bases loaded and no outs, Belgrave walked in a run with two outs to diminish the lead to one, and after just two-thirds innings of work, Vaughn pulled Belgrave in for junior David Falco Jr. who immediately gave up a two-run single to Jason Gonzalez.

Down one with two outs and the bases loaded, Zmarzlak once again found himself at the plate. This time he flew one out to right that had an opportunity to be the Terps’ fifth grand slam of the season but was chased down on the warning track by Alderman.

Ole Miss’ offense lost no steam and extended its lead on a two-run homer by Calarco to make their lead 6-9. Shortly after, a Wood single drove in Maddox to extend the lead to four, and with the bases loaded Vaugh pulled Falco for sophomore Ryan Van Buren. His first batter was Groff who singled to left and scored two more to extend the lead to 12-6.

The Terps went down in order in the top of the ninth and the two will play the rubber match of the series at 2:30 PM Sunday.

New glove? No problem for Maryland ace Jason Savacool as he mowed down the Ole Miss lineup racking up nine strikeouts and allowing just two runs in seven innings of work against the defending College World Series champions. Thanks to Savacool’s production on the mound, coupled with Ian Petrutz’s second grand slam of the season, the Terps took down the Ole Miss Rebels Friday night at Swayze Field with a final score of 9-2.

In his first start of the season for Ole Miss, junior Jack Dougherty started off the game about as effectively as possible, setting the Terps first three batters down in order. In the bottom half of the first inning, Savacool retired the Rebels’ first three hitters with two strikeouts. What looked like a great pitching battle early came to an end in the top of the second inning as a sac fly from junior Kevin Keister drove in Petrutz followed by a fielder’s choice that allowed sophomore Eddie Hacopian to cross home from third to put the Terps up by two.

The Rebels managed to get one back as two uncharacteristic defensive errors by junior catcher Luke Shliger allowed Calvin Harris to advance to third after his leadoff single. Harris would eventually cross home on an RBI groundout from Anthony Calarco.

The story of the game was Savacool who racked up six strikeouts in the first three innings alone. He routinely worked his way back from hitter-friendly counts to strike out two-thirds of the Rebels’ lineup early. Savacool, who was handed the loss in the Terps’ season opener at USF, surpassed his strikeout total of five from that game early on against Ole Miss in his first three innings of work.

Harris seemed to be Savacool’s kryptonite, however, as the junior was 2-2 against Maryland’s ace and was the only Ole Miss player to record a hit against him through four innings.

On the mound for Ole Miss, Dougherty pitched well but his pitch count was at 80 before he was taken out in the middle of the fifth top and replaced by senior Mitch Murrell after an RBI single from Shliger drove in Lambros to extend the Terps’ lead to 3-1.

Many questionable calls, including Lambros’ double that helped him to score on the Shliger single, went Maryland’s way all throughout the contest to the dismay of the Ole Miss fans assembled at Swayze Field as they made their presence known with a barrage of boos. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Anthony Calarco was the first player not named Harris to record a hit against Savacool. Calarco was able to advance to second on a groundout by Furniss, but he was left stranded after Judd Utermark struck out and Peyton Chatagnier lined out to end the inning. Utermark’s strikeout gave Savacool his seventh and counting on the night.

After a flashy offensive output in the top of the fifth inning, Maryland’s offense would leave Bobby Zmarzlak stranded in the top of the sixth to keep the Maryland lead at two. Faced with the top of Ole Miss’ order, Savacool quickly retired Ethan Groff, Jacob Gonzalez, and Kemp Alderman to end the sixth.

After a leadoff single by Shliger, Matt Shaw, having an uncharacteristically quiet night offensively, got his first hit of the night, a double to right field that helped Shliger advance to third. With two men in scoring position and no outs, Ole Miss went to their bullpen for the second time bringing in freshman Jordan Vera to relieve Murrell after he allowed three hits in two innings on the mound.

With the bases loaded and no one out, Ian Petrutz, who had a grand slam in Maryland’s series against USF, would launch another grand slam into Ole Miss’ bullpen to extend Maryland’s lead to 7-1. Maryland’s offensive clinic continued when a Keister single drove in Matt Woods to extend the lead to 8-1.

Following his five earned runs, Jordan Vera was replaced by freshman Brayden Jones who immediately hit Zmarzlak to put two men on base. Shortly after, the Terps had another bases-loaded opportunity, but Matt Shaw popped out to close the top of the seventh.

After allowing just his second run of the game when Calarco scored on a Furniss double who reached on an error, Savacool got his ninth strikeout of the game to close the seventh

Following seven innings pitched and nine strikeouts, Savacool was relieved by fifth year Kenny Lippman. Coming off two innings pitched against USF on Sunday, Lippman struck out the side to bring the came into the ninth. Lippman would come back to finish the game, setting down the final three Ole Miss hitters in order.

With the win, Maryland improves to 3-2 on the year and hands Ole Miss their first loss of the season. The two will meet again tomorrow for the second of this three-game series.