Baseball closes out Liberty in 10-5 win, splits series

Before the Terrapin baseball team took on Liberty yesterday afternoon, coach Erik Bakich told his players he wanted more aggression at the plate. Against the Flames the day before, it just hadn't been there, and the Terps managed only five hits en route to a 11-4 loss.

Whatever Bakich said yesterday, though, was certainly received.

"Offensively was the biggest difference," Bakich said after a 10-5 victory that split the two-game series with the Flames. "We straightened out our approach, we certainly showed today. ... I thought it was our best approach of the season so far as executing a plan offensively."

Five Terps had multiple hits in a game that finished with 14 hits total for the hosts. It proved quite the turnaround from the offensively feeble squad that played at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium on Tuesday.

"We played pretty bad yesterday, so we wanted to turn things around," right fielder Charlie White said. "We talked as a team last night about changing our approach to the plate, and we banged out 14 hits today, so we did a pretty good job of that. ... We came out aggressive and looking for our pitch."

Six straight hits in the bottom of the second inning gave the Terps (9-8) a 5-1 lead, with catcher Alex Ramsay, second baseman Ryan Holland and White all providing RBI.

"It feels really good. We had a rough time yesterday hitting; we didn't have very many quality at-bats, didn't see very many pitches," center fielder Korey Wacker said. "We sat down as a team, and we're a great team. That's what it takes to figure it out. We come back the next day and explode out of the gates."

Liberty (9-9) soon started to chip away at the lead, pushing across one run in the third and three in the sixth to cut the deficit to 6-5.

But just when the Flames seemed poised to take control of the game and the series, designated hitter Tim Kiene stepped to the plate. Despite the freshman's mighty struggles in his first few games as a Terp, Bakich has continued to play the highly rated recruit.

Kiene rewarded the show of faith with a long three-run home run to right field, his first collegiate round-tripper and a hit that all but assured victory for the Terps.

"It pretty much shut them up. They were just getting a little loud over there, trying to get into our heads," White said. "I mean, he was due. He was due for a home run, so it felt good. It picked the dugout up; everyone got pumped. We just put them away after that home run."

"The Kiene home run was the dagger," Bakich said. "It silenced them because they were sniffing a comeback there. Their dugout was getting loud; they had just put up three runs, and it became a one-run game. Once he hit that ball, that kind of put the game out of question."

Starting pitcher Chuck Ghysels provided some stability after the Terps' staff was rocked for 11 runs in the series opener. The usual closer went five innings — the longest outing of his young Terp career — while striking out six and allowing only two runs.

The victory snapped a four-game losing streak for the Terps and provided some much-needed momentum heading into their ACC weekend showdown against Boston College.

"Going into the second ACC series," White said, "it's good to have a good win under our belt."

schneider@umdbk.com