Baseball holds on in rainy 3-2 win

Korey Wacker stood on the mound late in the eight inning last night having already played through three hours of rain-, sleet- and hail-filled baseball at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium. The Terrapin baseball closer was one out away from escaping a bases-loaded jam and preserving a one-run lead.

But pitch after pitch, no matter how close he appeared to come to breaking free, he just couldn't seem to find the put-away strike.

"As a pitcher at home, you want to get those calls. But you can't worry about things you can't control during the game," Wacker said. "You just got to refocus and move on to the next pitch because there's nothing you can do about it."

Finally, after enduring several contentious calls by home-plate umpire Craig Alden in the previous at-bat, Wacker struck out George Mason left fielder Shane Davis. Wacker pumped his arm in excitement, and a 1-2-3 ninth inning his next time on the mound clinched the Terps' 3-2 victory.

"You can't control the umpires; you can't control the weather. You can't control a lot of things — you've just got to focus on your team and what you control," coach Erik Bakich said. "In that situation, we didn't get some close calls, but so what? We got to go out and make pitches, and that's what Wacker did. He didn't let a couple of close calls affect him, he just went out and executed."

If not for his defensive play on the mound, Wacker wouldn't have been in a situation to save the game for the Terps (12-13).

With runners on first and second and no outs earlier in a crucial eighth inning, Wacker fielded a sacrifice bunt. Instead of making the safe play to first base, he threw the ball to third, barely beating George Mason (10-15-1) catcher Jake Leonardo to the bag.

"That's the difference between playing to win and playing not to lose," Bakich said. "You've got to be fearless; you've got to be unafraid to make a mistake. And that's what Wacker is. He took a chance, made an extremely athletic play, got the lead out and saved the game."

Had Leonardo been able to make it to third, shortstop Brig Tison's fly ball in the next at-bat likely would have scored him and tied the game.

"When I came in, Coach sort of said, ‘It's a good thing we're bringing you in, [with] your athleticism on the mound. What we want to do is get this guy at third.' We knew he was going to lay down a bunt," Wacker said. "The play just went our way."

Wacker did more for the Terps than just defend, though.

In the second inning, Bakich dialed up a squeeze play with Wacker at the plate and runners at second and third base. After Wacker made contact, first baseman Curtis Lazar scored easily from third. But as the defense fell asleep after getting Wacker out at first, left fielder Jordan Hagel — who had been running from second on the pitch — dashed home.

In nearly every aspect of the game, it was clear who was the catalyst in the Terps' victory, their first after being swept by Virginia last weekend.

"With the successful double-squeeze execution, the unbelievable bunt play to get the lead out and the two-inning save," Bakich said, "[Wacker] really was the difference in tonight's game."

schneider@umdbk.com