TOWSON, Md. – Freshman righthander Kevin Mooney pitched out of a ninth inning jam and stranded the tying run at third base as he led the University of Maryland (23-20) to a 16-15 non-conference victory over Towson University (19-20) at John B. Schuerholz Park on Wednesday afternoon.
The Tigers, who trailed by 16-11 entering the ninth inning, saw their rally fall one run short as Mooney retired the last two hitters of the game.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, junior shortstop Hunter Bennett started a rally with a triple to right centerfield. After sophomore righthander Bobby Ruse walked first baseman Kurtis Voytell, the Tigers had runners at first and third base. Sophomore centerfielder Richie Blosser followed with a double down the left field line, scoring Bennett and cutting the deficit to 16-12. At that point, Mooney relieved Ruse. He walked catcher Zach Fisher on four pitches, loading the bases and bringing the tying run to the plate. A wild pitch by Mooney allowed Voytell to score and put two runners in scoring position. Then, junior second baseman Pat Fitzgerald hit a ground ball to freshman third baseman Kevin Martir, who made an error. Two runs scored and Fitzgerald wound up on second base.
After throwing another wild pitch to enable Fitzgerald to reach third base, Mooney struck out junior rightfielder Dominic Fratantuono on a 3-2 pitch. Then, he retired sophomore leftfielder Peter Bowles on a ground ball to shortstop, ending the wild game.
The Terrapins missed out on a chance to grab an early lead, thanks to a fine defensive play by Fitzgerald. Sophomore centerfielder Charlie White led off the game by drawing a walk. He advanced to second base when senior rightfielder Jordan Hagel bunted him over. After junior righthander Nik Nowottnick struck out LaMonte Wade, Martir hit a sharp ground ball up the middle. Fitzgerald ranged to his right, dove for the ball and smothered it. Then he threw out Martir at first base, ending the inning.
In the bottom of the first, the Tigers used their base-running skills to take an early lead. With one out, Fitzgerald drew a walk. After Fratantuono struck out, Fitzgerald stole second base and reached third base on a throwing error by catcher Jack Cleary. Bowles gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead when he singled to centerfield. Junior designated hitter Kurt Wertz followed with a single to right as Bowles reached third base. With third baseman Brendan Butler at bat, the Tigers tried a double steal. When Wertz broke for second base, Cleary threw down to second base. Junior shortstop Blake Schmit cut off the throw and threw home trying to retire Bowles. However, his throw was wild, enabling Wertz to reach third base. But, Butler popped up to end the inning.
The Tigers added three more runs in the second inning. Bennett led off the inning by reaching base on an error by Martir. After Voytell sacrificed him to second base, Fisher came through with a two-out single to centerfield, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead. Moments later, Fitzgerald launched the first home run of his career over the left field fence, making it a 5-0 advantage. Fitzgerald had gone 460 at bats without a homer.
In top of the third inning, the Terrapins rallied to tie the game as they took advantage five walks and an error. Freshman third baseman Jose Cuas led off the inning by reaching on an error by Butler at third base. When Nowottnick walked White and Hagel, Maryland had the bases loaded with no outs. Then, Wade smashed a grand slam home run down the left field line to pull the Terps to within 5-4. It was the first career home run for Wade. After Nowottnick walked Martir, he was relieved by freshman righthander Joe Patton.
Patton also struggled with his control. He walked freshman leftfielder Anthony Papio and Cleary to load the bases. Sophomore Andrew Amaro grounded into a double play as Martir scored the tying run. Patton retired Schmit on a ground ball to third, ending the rally.
In the fourth inning, the Terrapins took their first lead of the game. With one out, White singled to rightfield. Hagel followed with a double down the left field line to put two runners in scoring position. When Wade grounded out to second base, White scored to give Maryland a 6-5 lead. Martir grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Terrapins added a run in the fifth when Papio and Amaro drew walks. When Schmit was hit by a pitch, Maryland had the bases loaded with one out. Cuas hit a long drive to deep rightfield that Fratantuono caught at the fence. His sacrifice fly enabled Papio to score, giving Maryland a 7-5 lead.
After shutting out the Tigers in the third and fourth innings, freshman lefthander Jake Drossner ran into trouble in the fifth inning. With one out, Fratantuono doubled off the right field fence. Bowles followed with a single to put runners at first and third. Wertz came through with a bad-hop single to right, driving in a run to cut the lead to 7-6. A walk to Bennett loaded the bases and brought freshman righthander Brandon Casas in from the bullpen to pitch.
Voytell greeted Casas with a single to right on a 3-2 pitch, driving in two run to give Towson an 8-7 lead. However, Richie Blosser struck out to end the threat.
Towson's lead was short-lived as the Terrapins rallied for six runs in the sixth inning to take a 13-8 lead. With one out, Wade drew a walk. When Martir singled to left, the Terps had two runners on base. Sophomore righthander Greg Baruka came in from the bullpen to pitch and walked Papio to load the bases. A single to left by Cleary tied the game at 8-8. When Baruka issued a bases-loaded walk to Amaro as Martir scored the go-ahead run. Schmit hit a ground ball to Bennett at short, who stepped on the bag. But Schmit beat the throw to first as Papio scored to give Maryland a 10-8 advantage. Then, Cuas came up with the biggest hit of the inning, a two-run double down the left field line to make it a 12-8 lead. He took third base on a throw to the plate. White drove in Cuas when he singled to centerfield, upping the lead to 13-8. Hagel popped up to end the inning.
Trailing by 13-8, the Tigers came charging back in the bottom of the sixth. Fisher led off with a single to centerfield. When Fitzgerald singled to left, the Tigers had runners on first and third. After Fratantuono was retired on an infield pop-up, Bowles smashed his fourth home run of the season over the left centerfield fence to pull Towson to within 13-11. When Wertz followed with a single to right, the Tigers had the tying run at the plate. Butler hit a drive to deep left centerfield but White caught the ball at the fence for the second out. Bennett ended the inning by hitting a fly ball to centerfield.
In the seventh inning, Maryland added two more runs against sophomore righthander Christian Duclos. Duclos opened the inning by hitting Wade with a pitch. A single by Martir put runners on first and second base with no outs. Both runners moved into scoring position when Papio grounded out to first base. Cleary grounded out back to the mound for the second out as Wade scored. A bunt single by Amaro enabled Martir to score, giving Maryland a 15-11 lead. Schmit ended the inning when he lined out to third base.
In the top of the ninth, Maryland added an insurance run which turned to be a very important run. Sophomore righthander David Sapp, the Tigers' sixth pitcher of the game, hit Papio with a pitch with one out in the inning. When Cleary singled to centerfield, Papio reached third base. On a sacrifice bunt by Amaro, Papio scored while Amaro reached second base on an error by Voytell, the first baseman. Senior righthander Sean Bertrand came out of the bullpen and struck out Schmit before retiring Cuas on a pop-up to third base.
That set the stage for the Tigers' near-comeback.
The Terrapins took advantage of 11 walks and four hit batters by Tiger pitchers. Six Terrapins who received free passes scored.
Wade led Maryland with five runs batted in. He had one hit and scored three runs. Martir, White and Cleary each had two hits. Amaro and Cuas each had three RBI's. Papio had one hit and walked three times. He scored three runs.
Bowles and Wertz led the Tigers' 16-hit offense. Bowles was three-for-six with four RBI's while Wertz was three-for-five and had one RBI. Fitzgerald had two hits, scored three runs and drove in three more. Fisher reached base four times and scored three runs.
For the Tigers, the loss was their third consecutive defeat, all by one run.
Towson and Maryland will play the second game of their home-and-home series next Tuesday in College Park.
The Tigers return to action on Friday when they host No. 25 UNC Wilmington in the opening game of a three-game series.
