Even as the Terrapin baseball team struggled in the early stages of this season, claiming just one victory in their first six ACC contests, the Terps could reliably hang their hat on their defense — which, they affirmed, was one of the best in the nation.
But against No. 3 Virginia this weekend, the Terps' once-vaunted defense faltered greatly. A series of crucial Terp errors keyed a Cavalier sweep in Charlottesville, Va., to drop them to 1-8 in ACC play, their worst start in the conference since 2003.
"It was really tough to swallow," second baseman Ryan Holland said. "We had them for two games, and we had a chance to make a statement and play well and do what we needed to do in those situations and execute."
Regardless of their fielding, the Terps (11-13, 1-8 ACC) had little hope in the series opener Friday, when Virginia sent reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year and first-team All-American Danny Hultzen to the mound. Hultzen dominated the Terps, allowing only four hits in six innings while striking out nine.
But the Terps' defense didn't make matters any better. With the team down 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth, the Cavaliers exploded for a 10-run rally aided by three Terp errors. Eight of the Cavaliers' 10 runs were unearned, and the Terps committed a season-high five errors in the 14-1 loss.
"The first game I thought was a bit of an aberration," coach Erik Bakich said. "For this team, it's characteristically very solid defensively, and then makes five errors. I didn't see that coming. That, certainly, I felt was out of character."
The Terps' pitching rebounded well in the second game of the series Saturday before once again being undone by shoddy defense.
Righthander David Carroll dazzled the Cavaliers (24-2, 8-1) in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. He allowed only one run over seven innings while scattering four hits, at one point retiring 16 straight batters.
But with the Terps up 2-1 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, back-to-back errors from third baseman Tomo Delp and shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez paved the way for a Cavalier rally. Terp closer Korey Wacker allowed three runs in the inning, and the Terps went on to lose, 4-2.
"You got a guy out there who's pitching his [butt] off, and he goes seven innings strong for us, and we blow it late innings," Holland said. "You look back and you go, damn, what could we have done differently?"
"You give a good team additional opportunities," Bakich said, "they're going to make you pay."
The Terps again took a 2-0 lead in the series finale of Saturday's doubleheader. That lead lasted only until the bottom of the second inning, when the Cavaliers scored four runs. The Terps' bats fell silent once more, and the 4-2 loss sealed the series sweep.
"We had opportunities to do some things today in the second game, and we didn't get the clutch hit when we needed," Bakich said. "We didn't make a clutch play, didn't make a clutch pitch. Just didn't rise to the occasion."
Despite nearly stealing a victory at Virginia and holding a lead in the series finale, Bakich made it clear that there was no consolation prize for the losses the Terps had suffered against one of the nation's top teams. For the Terps, who have now lost nine of their past 12 games, coming close doesn't make anything better.
"It doesn't do anything for me, knowing we played the No. 3 team in the country and played them two close games there. That does nothing for me," Bakich said. "I don't care about that because we want to be in Virginia's shoes; we want to be one of the top teams in the country."
schneider@umdbk.com
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