At home opener, baseball's bats awaken in 8-3 win

Before his collegiate career ever began, expectations for freshman Tim Kiene were high.

The highly touted Terrapin men's baseball first baseman from South Windsor, Conn., was slotted in the cleanup spot for opening day against No. 7 Texas, a position often reserved for the team's most dynamic hitter.

But when Kiene struggled to find success against the Longhorns this weekend, going hitless in three starts, he didn't let it bother him.

"Not at all," Kiene said. "It's a long season. The game's about a lot of failure, so the way you handle it is the way you're going to play."

For at least one afternoon yesterday, Kiene and others managed to put their early-season struggles behind them. After Kiene, infielder Curtis Lazar and center fielder Korey Wacker had managed only one hit combined last weekend, the trio proved instrumental during a a critical third-inning offensive outburst that secured an 8-3 victory for the Terps against Navy.

"They're due, they certainly are," coach Erik Bakich said. "They probably didn't have their best weekend that they wanted to have at Texas. But that's baseball. That's the way it is. It's a game of peaks and valleys, and sometimes you start off in a little bit of a valley, and then all of a sudden get a couple of hits that fall, and then all of a sudden you're on fire, and the ball looks like a beach ball. Those guys are good hitters."

With the Terps (2-3) down 1-0 in the bottom of the third, right fielder Charlie White led off with a single. Catcher Jack Cleary followed with a bunt single, and a walk by shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez loaded the bases. Wacker then came to the plate and slammed a two-run double into the right-field corner.

Kiene followed one batter later with a single to right field that drove in two more, and Lazar's single with the bases loaded gave the Terps a 6-1 lead.

"It was pretty big," Kiene said of the inning. "We weren't worried about it. I feel like we get timely hits when we need them. It paid off tonight."

"They always say hitting is contagious, and if you can bring contagious habits to the rest of the team, then it's going to make the rest of the team better," said second baseman Ryan Holland, who finished with three hits and two runs. "It just keeps adding from one player to the next player, if one person gets on or something like that, it just keeps going down the [lineup]."

Even when he occasionally got himself into trouble, starting pitcher Michael Boyden continually worked out of it. After a Rodriguez error loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the third, Boyden allowed only a sacrifice fly before inducing a 1-6-3 double play to end the scoring threat.

Boyden went four strong innings, allowing only one run on four hits while striking out four — including three in a row in the second inning — and walking none.

"He gave us a quality start. I think the best thing he did is he threw strikes, he didn't walk anybody, threw four good innings," Bakich said. "I thought he was very efficient, and I thought he had a quality start even though he only went four innings. That's exactly what we needed."

The Midshipmen (0-4) managed two runs off the Terps' bullpen to cut the lead to three late, but the Terps managed two insurance runs to secure the victory.

After opening their season in one of college baseball's most hostile environments with a series loss, the Terps reveled in the chance to enjoy their home opener.

"Texas was fun, but to win at home, there's nothing better — especially a home opener," Kiene said. "I feel like we played very well, and we'll keep it up through the weekend."

schneider@umdbk.com