Another near flawless performance by Maryland ace Brian Shaffer, paired with a four-run sixth inning by the offense, propelled the Terrapins to a series-opener win over Princeton 4-0.

Shaffer picked up right where he left off a week ago against Bryant, running through the Princeton lineup, retiring 24 of 27 batters faced, with a career-high 10 strikeouts. Shaffer surrendered three hits over eight innings Friday, holding the Tigers without a hit for a four-inning span stretching from the second to the eighth.

Despite having a career day, Shaffer maintained a mental and corporeal steadiness that has allowed him to be so consistently good over his last two games.

“It’s just kind of the same state of mind as every other game,” Shaffer said.

Shaffer has quickly settled into the Friday ace role this season and has steadily improved his play and duration each outing.

Including Friday’s contest, Shaffer has pitched 15 innings, allowed one run on eight hits, with 18 strikeouts in his last two starts.

“I think its just experience,” Shaffer said. “Like last year, it was the same way. You start going five, then work your way up to six, and then go late into games. I think its just kind of getting the rust off still and hopefully see more of that from here on out.”

After five scoreless innings, Maryland finally broke through in the sixth with four runs. Three consecutive base hits by Brandon Gum, Nick Cieri, and Will Watson turned into the Terps’ first run and a three-run home run by Kevin Smith, who was without a hit up to that point, two at bats later blew the game open.

“I came up, I think the last two times with runners in scoring position and didn’t come through, so I was just looking for a pitch I could drive,” Smith said. “I should’ve came through a little earlier in the game, kind of kicking myself for that. So, going up there, getting another chance, I really wanted to come through for the guys because they had been getting good at bats and getting on base for us.”

Early on it appeared as if Maryland would never score, after multiple failed attempts to bring home base runners from third base. In the second, Princeton starter Chris Giglio overthrew his first baseman on a Madison Nickens’ bunt. Nickens reached safely and Watson, on base following a single, advanced to third on the error. But Giglio retired Smith the next at bat to end the scoring threat.

Maryland stranded base runners on the corners again in the third inning, but the Terps’ sixth inning offensive output was enough to give them their tenth win of the season, and its ninth in its last 10 games.

“This far into the season, its been more big innings than not,” Smith said. “So, we’re still going to stay aggressive. I mean, if they put pitches down the middle and we end up missing them, we might have a quick inning. But at the same time, if we hit them it might be a three-spot really early. So, it’s just kind of the tempo of our offense and [Giglio] kept us off balance but we came through when it really mattered.”

“Like last week, it’s just a matter of when its going to happen,” Shaffer said. “I wasn’t worried at all about the score being zero-zero. It’s just of matter of when they were going to do it. And they finally did.”

Giglio was a surprise starter for the Tigers, filling in for an ill Chad Powers, Princeton’s usual Friday starter. It was the senior’s first start of the season. He had been used exclusively in the bullpen through the Tigers’ first eight games.

Giglio pitched well through five innings, but was on the hook for three of Maryland’s runs in the sixth. He was pulled after 5.1 innings, giving up seven hits and striking out one.

Maryland and Princeton meet again tomorrow for game two at 2 p.m. at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. Taylor Bloom will pitch for the Terps’ and Princeton is expected to start freshman James Proctor.

A six-run eighth inning lifted Maryland to its fifth straight win Wednesday, an 11-5 victory over visiting St. Joseph’s.

The Terrapins entered the inning tied with the Hawks but timely hits, including a leadoff solo home run by Madison Nickens, and two fielding errors by the St. Joseph’s’s defense, erased any doubt over the outcome elicited earlier in the game.

“Momentum is on our side,” Nickens said. “I’m the first guy to come up and I put us on top and everyone is just feeding off that. Everybody was excited.”

For the second time in two days, Maryland’s starting pitcher failed to make it out of the second inning, as Cameron Enck was chased after loading the bases and recording no outs in the second.

And for the second time in two days, the Terrapins received stellar play from its relievers, who combined to pitch 7.1 innings and give up only one run.

“That’s the second day we’ve been down by a big inning, so it’s a matter of trying to manage the staff through that game, as far as putting pitchers in the right position to hopefully be successful,” Head coach John Szefc said. “They really all did a pretty good job in general.”

The sophomore right-hander walked the leadoff hitter to open the inning, before giving up consecutive base hits to Matt Maul and Peter Sitaras, which scored one. Enck hit the next batter, which loaded the bases and ended his day.

Szefc called upon Tayler Stiles to replace Enck, one day removed from earning the win against William & Mary.

Enck remained on the hook for three more runs after Stiles surrendered two hits before striking out Charlie Concannon to close out the inning.

Stiles pitched into the fifth, where he was relieved by Jared Price. Stiles finished with four strikeouts and four hits over 3.1 scoreless innings.

Maryland used another big second inning to initiate its comeback, manufacturing a Will Watson run and then receiving a solo home run from Justin Morris.

Marty Costes tied the game with a two-run shot the next inning, and AJ Lee gave the Terrapins their first lead in the sixth with a solo home run.

St. Joseph’s tied the game in the seventh, and nearly retook the lead in the eighth, after Andrew Miller put the first two batters on with back-to-back walks. Miller was taken out in favor of Mike Rescigno, who retired the next three batters, setting up the Terrapins’ big bottom eighth.

“I mean that’s the save right there,” Szefc said. “Once you get out of that inning as the home team, things will normally go your way at the point. But if they don’t, God knows where that game finishes.”

Nickens’s finished with only one hit Wednesday, but it was a moonshot over the fence in center field that dramatically shifted the outcome.

“[Nickens’s] home run was huge,” Rescigno said. “That probably won us the game honestly. I mean we put up what, five more after that, but that home run was definitely big for us.”

With 11 runs Wednesday, Maryland has now scored at least nine runs in four of the past five games, and 43 total runs during the win streak.

“What we’re trying to do is to make it difficult, very difficult for an opposing pitching staff to work through our team for 27 outs,” Szefc said. “Which I think they’ve done a really good job of that lately and it hasn’t even been 27, its been 24.”

Maryland hosts Bryant for its first home series of the season, starting Friday at 4 p.m.

Maryland’s bullpen combined to give up two runs over 7.1 innings and the Terrapins’ offense scored nine runs over six innings to complete a six-run comeback in its home opener against William & Mary, defeating the Tribe 9-8.

A Nick Dunn RBI-single in the sixth gave Maryland its first lead of the game, and the Terrapins added runs in the seventh and eighth to hold off William & Mary and push the Terrapins (5-5) to .500 for the first time this season.

It was the team’s fourth straight win after starting the season 1-4.

“We just came in and knew we were going to have to grind back,” Kevin Smith said.

Hunter Parsons made his first start of the season for Maryland but lasted only 1.2 innings after allowing six earned runs, including a three-run home run to Kyle Wrighte with two outs in the second.

Parsons faced two more batters before being replaced by Ryan Hill.

Parsons’ final batter was Cullen Large, who continued his scorching start to the season with a bases-clearing double, giving William & Mary the early 6-0 lead.

Hill struck out the next batter to get Maryland out of a nightmarish inning. Hill, making his fifth appearance of the season, pitched through the fifth, surrendering three hits, striking out six and giving up no runs over 3.1 innings.

Head coach John Szefc praised Hill’s performance, citing his three-plus innings of scoreless work as instrumental to the team’s comeback.

“Hill did a great job of putting three-and-third scoreless up to kind of let our guys, give us some time for our guys to come back,” Szefc said. “Because if we don’t stop it there, the end is not going to be that way.”

“When coach tells you to run down and get hot, a little adrenaline kicks in and you’re getting pumped,” Hill said. “You’re ready to get going and get in there and once you get in there you’re just like, ‘just throw strikes, get out of it and then settle down and just do your thing.'”

Hill often controlled the count, getting ahead of batters and showing good command of the strike zone.

Maryland chipped away at the lead with four runs in the bottom half of the inning, including a Kevin Biondic two-run RBI-single.

“Kevin Biondic has a big hit there to make it a big inning,” Smith said. “And once we put up that four-spot we kind of knew that we would be alright.”

“I give our offense an awful lot of credit,” Szefc said. “I mean they put up a six-spot and our guys jumped right back and put a four-spot up. And if you’re sitting in that dugout, you’re feeling pretty good about 6-0 and then all the sudden its 6-4. you’re not feeling so good anymore.”

Maryland and William & Mary exchanged three scoreless innings beginning in the third, allowing Szefc to not reach as deep into his bullpen with a game against St. Joseph’s tomorrow.

The scoring drought ended when Zach Jancarski double into right field to tie the game followed by Dunn’s go-ahead base hit.

Maryland added another run when pinch hitter Danny Maynard was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Tayler Stiles pitched a hitless sixth innings and Mike Rescigno gave up one run on three hits over one inning.

After exchanging runs in the eighth, Ryan Selmer completed the two-inning save with a strikeout of Matthew Keane to end the game. It was Selmer’s second save of the season.

“Selmer had it,” Hill said. “When he’s out there, I know he’s got the job done and it’s a good thing to have him out there.”

Maryland looks to extend its winning streak to five tomorrow at home against St. Joseph’s. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.