The Eagles jumped on Meade Johnson and never looked back.
After winning the first two games of the series, Maryland baseball looked to complete a sweep of Georgia Southern on Sunday, but the Eagles had different plans. They ambushed the Terps, taking down Maryland, 7-3.
Meade Johnson made his first start for Maryland but had a rough outing. In 3 ⅓ innings of work, he gave up five costly runs.
Alex Walsh came in to relieve Johnson and provided damage control. In Walsh’s 2 ⅔ innings, he gave up two hits, one walk and two runs. He also gave up a home run to Sam Blancato in the seventh.
Evan Smith and Duke McCarron — both making their Division I debuts — pitched an inning apiece without giving up any runs.
Ty Fisher — the Eagles’ opening day starter the past two seasons — started for Georgia Southern and impressed. He went six innings and gave up only one run. Fisher also struck out eight Terps and walked just one batter.
Maryland got on the board first in the third, as Brayden Martin chopped an RBI single to drive in Charlie Glennon. But that didn’t last long, with Blancato matching Martin’s RBI single with one of his own in the bottom half of the inning. Then, a wild pitch by Johnson brought in Josh Tate before Jarrett Brown hit a sacrifice fly.
The Eagles continued their onslaught in the fourth inning when Luke Odden hit an RBI double down the right-field line and Tate hit a single to score him. By now it was 5-0, with the game getting away from the Terps.
Jacob Orr provided some life with a seventh-inning RBI single to score Kevin Keister, and later that inning a passed ball brought Eddie Hacopian.
Once again, though, Maryland’s moment was short-lived. In the bottom of the seventh, Blancato hit a solo shot to bring Georgia Southern’s lead back to three. Also in that frame, JD Kaiser hit an RBI double.
Despite Sunday’s result, Maryland will head home victorious in its first series of the season. The Terps will be back in action on Tuesday for their home opener against Mount St. Mary’s.
Three things to know
1. Fisher had his way. The Terps struggled mightily against Fisher. The Eagles’ starter had eight strikeouts in six innings of work and only gave up one run. Maryland fared much better against Georgia Southern’s bullpen.
2. Johnson struggled. Johnson’s first start with Maryland didn’t go as he would’ve hoped. In He was never able to recover from his five earned runs allowed in the third and fourth innings.
3. Orr stayed hot. Orr is off to a strong start to the 2024 season. After a big game on Friday, he followed it up Sunday with an RBI single.