May 30, 2014

Terps Rally in Ninth to Stun Monarchs

By John Whittle

@johnmwhittle

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

COLUMBIA, S.C. – After being in control for the first eight innings, third-seeded Old Dominion dropped its opening game of the Columbia Regional 4-3 as second-seeded Maryland scored the game-tying and go-ahead runs on hit batsmen with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

The Terrapins (37-21) trailed the entire game, giving up single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings. Monarchs starting pitcher Andy Roberts and relievers Ryan Yarbrough and Conner Overton kept their team in the lead until the final frame.

Needing just two outs for the victory, Overton passed the ball to closer Brad Gero who loaded the bases for the heart of the Maryland order. Brandon Lowe and Jose Cuas didn’t need to take the bat off of their shoulder though to send the Terrapins to the winners’ bracket game on Saturday night at 7 p.m.

“At the end of the day, when you count up the runs, it’s either a win or a loss,” Maryland head coach John Szefc said. “Our guys did what they needed to.”

Both players were hit on the first pitch of the at-bat giving the ACC Tournament runners-up the walk-off win to cap a three-run inning. Top-of-the-order hitter Charlie White also produced an RBI single in the inning to start the scoring in the ninth for Maryland.

The win was Maryland’s first of the season when trailing after eight innings as the club sported an 0-18 record heading into the NCAA Tournament. It was just ODU’s second loss of the season when leading after eight. The Monarchs entered with a 30-1 record when holding the lead through eight.

“It’s just a tough way to lose,” Old Dominion head coach Chris Finwood said. “It was a good ball game, and you have to give them credit for fighting back. It felt like we had done enough to win the ball game, but you have to play nine innings, not eight, and we just couldn’t finish it up.”

Old Dominion (36-25) was able to stake an early lead on a pair of RBI singles by shortstop Tyler Urps, who was 2 for 3 in the game, in the third and fifth innings. Josh Eldridge lifted a sacrifice fly to centerfield in the sixth to give his team a 3-0 lead.

All three runs came off of Terrapins starting pitcher Jake Stinnett, who gave up six hits and a walk with seven strikeouts over eight innings of work.

The Terrapins scored their first run in the eighth when LaMonte Wade touched home on a double-play ground out by Blake Schmidt with no outs and the bases loaded.

“There’s never a sense of doubt in the dugout,” Cuas, a sophomore, said. “We’ve been playing as good of baseball as anyone in the country during the month of May. We never doubt each other whether we’re up or down.”

Maryland will take on the winner of Friday night’s game between South Carolina and Campbell on Saturday at 7 p.m.; Old Dominion will face the loser in an elimination game at 1 p.m.