Maryland scored in double digits on Sunday for the third time in its past four games, taking down the Bryant Bulldogs 13-3 for a series sweep in College Park. 

Unlike the past two days, Bryant got on the board first in the series finale. Maryland allowed the first three Bryant batters to reach base to start the inning, after an error, a single, and a double. With the double the Bulldogs plated their first run of the game, taking the least 1-0.

But Terrapin starter Sean Burke proceeded to strikeout the next three batters to work out of the jam, minimizing the damage. 

Maryland struck back in the bottom of the first on a Maxwell Costes home run to left field, after which Costes chucked the bat toward the home dugout, Tim Anderson-style. A Bobby Zmarzlak walk and Tucker Flint’s ninth hit-by-pitch of the year kept the rally going. (Flint was hit by two more pitches before the day was over).

Catcher Tavan Shahidi then smoked a single to right field to score Zmarzlak and give the Terps the one-run advantage.

“I feel like we have a complete lineup here,” Costes said. “If I don’t [get a hit], somebody else will.”

Bryant tied the game in the top of the second on a sky-high RBI triple just out of the reach of Terps left fielder Flint, but the Bulldogs’ lead didn’t last long. 

Maryland’s offense continued the back-and-forth scoring in the bottom of the inning, putting up a two-spot after capitalizing on Bryant errors and free bases, heading into the third up 4-2, helped by a successful double-steal from Randy Bednar and Costes. 

“When you are playing with the lead you can up your tempo a little bit and try to force guys to make mistakes,” head coach Rob Vaughn said, regarding the double-steal attempt. 

A long ball to right-center field in the top of the third gave Bryant its third run of the day, but Maryland’s defense kept the Bulldogs from tacking on any more, while the Terps’ offense continued to dominate.

Shortstop Ben Cowles continued his hot streak with an RBI-double through the left-center field gap, putting Maryland ahead 5-3 heading to the fourth. The junior finished the day two-for-five with a double and three RBI.

On the mound Burke fully settled down in the fourth inning, with help from catcher Shahidi; after Burke walked the leadoff batter, Shahidi eliminated the baserunner with a successful throw down to second–then Burke struck out the next two batters to face the minimum. 

Burke allowed runners in the fifth and sixth innings but both times the Maryland infield picked him up, turning two nifty double plays to keep his pitch count low enough to finish out the sixth inning with a strikeout. It was his 11th strikeout of the game, the most by any Maryland pitcher this year.

“In the past and this preseason when I struggled a little bit I was trying to do too much,” Burke said. “So now I have a real simple pinch-plan and make adjustments along the way if I need to.”

The Terps added three insurance runs in the fifth inning, plus four runs in the seventh and a run in the eighth; the late-inning scoring was highlighted by another double-steal and a Bryant error to plate Bednar from third base in the seventh.

Sam Bello came in the game for Maryland in the top of the seventh, relieving Burke, who finished with 11 strikeouts over six innings, allowing only two earned runs on five hits and two walks. Bello, who made his first appearance since February 21, pitched a clean seventh and struck out two batters. 

“Burke is a baller, man… whenever he steps on the mound, the whole vibe of the team becomes different,” said Costes on the presence his freshman-year roommate brings to the diamond.

Austin Chavis had an impactful day for the Terps, going three-for-four with a double and two runs. Costes was two-for-two with a homer, double, two walks and three RBI.

Maryland will be back in action on Wednesday in College Park to take on James Madison at 4 p.m.

Despite allowing at least one runner in each inning of work, Maryland starting pitcher Nick Dean built off his solid start against Coastal Carolina with a gem Saturday against Bryant. The freshman went six scoreless innings, blanking the Bulldogs for only three hits and six strikeouts in the Terps’ 8-3 win. 

Dean’s dominant performance on the mound earned him the W, the first of his career. On the offensive side of the ball, Maryland helped the freshman cruise, starting things early for the second straight day.

Bryant starting pitcher Tyler Schoff continued the Bulldogs’ trend of allowing free bases, walking two batters in the first inning to help the Terps grab an early lead.

Randy Bednar dribbled an infield single to shortstop, just beating the throw from Tommy DiTullio. Maxwell Costes walked and Bobby Zmarzlak split the left center field gap for his eighth RBI in two days, scoring Bednar and giving the Terps a 1-0 lead.

Left fielder Troy Schreffler walked to load the bases for third baseman Matt Orlando, who slapped a liner to right, scoring Costes. The Terps got another infield hit to shortstop from shortstop Benjamin Cowles to give them a three run cushion in the first.

Maryland got one more across in the bottom of the fourth after Bednar singled through the six-hole and stole second base, followed by a safety squeeze bunt by Schreffler to plate the team’s fourth run. 

Bednar continued to dominate for Maryland in the fifth with a two-run double. The junior has now earned a hit in each of his last five games, three more coming on Saturday.

In relief, freshman Ryan Ramsey came in for Dean in the seventh inning and proceeded to allow three straight singles to DiTullio, Derek Smith, and Gustin to load the bases.

Ramsey was then pulled for Elliot Zoellner, who forfeited just two runs in the inning. 

In the bottom of the inning, catcher Brenton Davis blasted a 1-1 offering from MacDonald over the right field wall for his first hit and home run as a Terp.

Zoellner closed it out for Maryland, inducing a bases loaded double play from Viscariello to secure the series win for the Terps.

Maryland will look for the sweep tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.

One swing changed the game for the Terps on Friday.

Bryant starter Tyler Mattison had ended the bottom of the third inning with three straight strikeouts to strand runners on second and third base for Maryland. The bottom of the fourth was about to end in similar fashion with the bases loaded, after Tavan Shahidi and Tucker Flint had each struck out.

But the freshman Bobby Zmarzlak stepped to the plate and made up for the past failures, blasting a Mattison pitch to center field for a grand slam. It was his second home run of the game and sixth RBI, en route to the Terps’ 14-3 win over the Bulldogs in College Park to start the three-game series.

Maryland got the scoring started in the bottom of the first. Chris Alleyne led off the game with a laser double into left center field and Randy Bednar drove him in with a base knock to left field. A throwing error by the third baseman allowed Bednar to advance to third as the ball rolled towards the Bryant dugout. Costes then blooped one to center field to give the Terps a 2-0 lead.

Later in the bottom of the first after Shahidi walked and Flint flew out to left, Zmarzlak deposited a Mattison pitch over the right-field wall for his first homer on the day to make it 4-0.

“We see that stuff every day from [Zmarzlak],” head coach Rob Vaughn said. “When he hit the first one I said, ‘That’s one-of-30.’ When he hit the second one I said, ‘That’s two-of-30.'”

Behind the Terps’ overwhelming run support, Maryland starter Sean Fisher did enough for the win on Friday, going six innings, scattering five hits on three earned runs. He also struck out eight with two walks.

Bryant put together a scoring inning in the top of the third, after a Derek Smith base knock to left, Jake Gustin hit a booming double down the right field line to score Smith. Gustin stole third base on the next play and was driven home on a Shane Kelly sac fly to right field to make it 4-2.

Alleyne kicked off the bottom of the fourth inning with a bunt single, which was one of his six hits on the day. With his six-for-six performance, Alleyne tied the school record. Then came Zmarzlak’s grand slam,  after the Terps loaded the bases, breaking the game open 8-2. 

“I knew I had to get something done, put the ball in play and just do whatever I can to help the team get a run,” said Zmarzlak on the added pressure going into his grand-slam at-bat.

The Bryant pitching staff surrendered 11 of walks on the day, adding to the Bulldogs’ woes. Mattison had five walks over four innings and reliever Jack Halbruner had three in 2/3 innings pitched.

Bryant got their last run of the game on a missile home run off the bat of Kelly in the top of the fifth inning. Kelly was two-for-three with two RBI to lead the Bulldogs’ lackluster offense.

The Terps held a 12-3 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, but the scorching offense added more. Cowles popped one over the center field wall for his third home run of the season, then two batters later Alleyne drove one over the right field wall for his record-tying sixth hit of the game, putting Maryland up 14-3.

“I just trusted my approach I had the whole year, see the ball up and hit it hard somewhere. I can’t control the ball once it leaves your barrel,” said Alleyne on his big day at the plate.

At the end of the day Bednar was two-for-five with a double and two runs, Costes was two-for-two with three walks and Zmarzlak finished the day with an impressive seven RBI.  

The Terp’s offense could not get the bats going early on Wednesday against George Mason starting pitcher freshman Patrick Halligan in a 9-5 loss to the Patriots. Maryland is now 18-19 on the season.

Halligan came into the best start of his season with a 7.76 ERA and a .331 opponent’s batting average but managed to carve up the Maryland offense that scored 32 runs over the weekend against Northeastern. Halligan went 6 2/3 innings with three strikeouts, two hits, two walks, and two earned runs in what was the longest outing of his career. Halligan is now 3-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 6.81.

George Mason jumped on Terps starter Drew Wilden in the first inning from a bases loaded, two-RBI single from Aaron Yurko that scored Tim Quinn and Bailey Klein. Then in the third, Klein blasted an opposite field home run to add to his productive day and give George Mason a 3-0 lead.

Mark DiLuia came into pitch in the fourth inning to relieve Wilden and quickly let up a double from Yurko, single from Greg Popatak, and RBI single from Daniel Brooks to put the Patriots up 4-0. A walk and hit-by-pitch from Logan Driscoll made the score 5-0.

The Patriots added on two more runs in the sixth inning off Sean Fisher via RBI from Alejandro Aponte and Klein to make it 7-0.

The Terps finally got on the board in the top of the seventh inning. After a Zach Doss walk, a Caleb Walls single and a George Mason pitching change to Mason Posey, Michael Pineiro drove them in on a two-RBI single to right field. AJ Lee followed it up with an RBI single for himself, scoring Ben Cowles, who reached on a walk earlier in the inning, to make it 7-3.

Maryland closer John Murphy came into the game in the bottom of the eighth inning to try to hold the deficit but failed to do so, letting up two runs on a hit an error, a HBP, and two walks.

Maryland threatened and even put some runs on the board in the top of the ninth after a Cowles HBP, a Lee double, a Randy Bednar sac fly to centerfield and Taylor Wright singled to make it 9-5.

For George Mason, Bailey Klein was 2-for-3 with with a home run and three runs scored while Aaron Yurko was 2-for-3 with three RBI.

Michael Pineiro led the Terps offensively, going 2-for-4 with two RBI on the day. Lee and Wright also had two hits for Maryland.

The Maryland pitching staff let up eight walks and nine hits on the day. Of the nine runs scored by George Mason, four were unearned. The Maryland defense also committed two errors.

The Terps next matchup will be a weekend series starting this Friday against Ohio State in College Park. First pitch on Friday will be at 6:30 p.m.

Though it took Maryland’s offense a few innings to warm up Wednesday against Delaware, once the Terps took the lead they stayed ahead, defeating the Blue Hens 11-6 in Newark, Delaware, for Maryland’s 10th win of the season.

The Blue Hens jumped out to an early one-run lead in the first inning, extending their lead in the second on a leadoff solo homer from Jack Goan and an RBI single from Erik Bowren.

The Terp’s offense––on a hot streak as of late–– showed out in the fourth inning. Maryland pounced on Delaware pitchers Joey Haass and Jack Dubecq, putting up  four runs to take the lead. After a leadoff walk from sophomore Tommy Gardiner, senior Caleb Walls drove an RBI triple to the right-center field wall to put the Terps on the board.

Then, Randy Bednar drove in Walls with a single to left, and with two outs in the inning, Benjamin Cowles knocked a two-RBI double down the left-field line to score Bednar and Maxwell Costes to make the score 4-3.

Both offenses went cold for a few innings, until Maryland loaded the bases in the top of the eighth. With two outs, the two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week Costes smashed a grand slam to left field, extending the Terps’ lead to 8-3.

Delaware pulled a little closer in the bottom of the eighth, capitalizing on a few walks and Maryland errors to put up a three-run rally.

But in the bottom of the ninth, after a wild pitch from Delaware pitcher C.J. Schaible allowed Sebastian Holte-Mancera to cross the plate, Chris Alleyne stepped in th ebox with one runner on and blasted his third home run of the season, giving Maryland an 11-6 lead.

Terrapin head coach Rob Vaughn heavily utilized his bullpen against Delaware again this week, starting sophomore Drew Wilden, but taking him out in the second inning with one out, after he gave up five hits and three runs.The lefty struck out three in his 1.1-inning outing. Freshman Will Glock entered for 1.2 innings, giving up  one hit but walking three.

Juniors Tuck Tucker and Elliot Zoellner gave up only one hit combined, pitching two innings each. Nick Turnbull came in for Zoellner in the eighth, giving up three unearned runs in the inning. Freshman Daniel O’Connor came in for the ninth inning to give Maryland their 10th win of the young season.

Maryland will be challenged by No. 17 East Carolina this weekend for a three-game series in College Park.