For the second time in the same day, the Maryland Terrapins staved off elimination in dramatic fashion in the NCAA baseball tournament. With bases loaded, Nick Lorusso delivered a walk-off single against the right field wall to give Maryland a 7-6 win over Connecticut in 11 innings.
The win forces a winner-take-all rematch between the Terps and Huskies in Monday’s regional final.
Maryland built an early lead, scoring three runs in the first inning. Then, Lorusso hit a solo homer in the fifth to push the Terps’ lead to 4-0. However, the Huskies, who entered Sunday’s contest undefeated, tied the game with four runs in the sixth inning.
Maryland went to the bullpen after Nick Robinson gave the Terps five scoreless innings behind five strikeouts. Unfortunately, the bullpen unraveled. Nigel Belgrave hit the first batter he faced to lead off the sixth. He then walked the next batter before getting the hook.
Will Glock wasn’t much better, allowing the two baserunners he inherited from Robinson to score, plus allowing another two off two hits and a walk.
Maryland regained the lead with two runs in the seventh. However the elad didn’t last long as the Terrapins bullpen struggled again. Connecticut’s David Smith hit an RBI triple in the eighth to cut the deficit to 6-5. Then he scored after a wild pitch from reliever Ryan Ramsey to tie the game at 6-6.
Both teams’ bullpens settled down to force extra innings. But, Maryland’s offense broke in the 11th. Maryland loaded the bases after back-to-back one-out singles by Kevin Keister and Luke Shliger before Chris Alleyne was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
That set up the stage for Lorusso to play the hero.
Maryland defeated Wake Forest 10-5 earlier Sunday afternoon in an elimination game. The Terrapins trailed 5-3 with four outs remaining before they surged with a six-run rally in the eighth to pull away.
With Sunday night’s win over UConn, Maryland sets up Monday’s rematch in the College Park regional with a chance to advance to the Super Regional. UConn defeated Maryland Saturday night 10-5. Now it all will come down to a winner-take-all third meeting between the two.
