Pitching leads baseball in sweep of Army

After five hours of baseball at a blustery, near-freezing Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium on Friday, first baseman Tomo Delp stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the 13th inning.

Delp wanted to provide the game-winning hit and break what he called a "miserable" 6-6 deadlock with Army. What he got wasn't as dramatic. But he was just as happy to end the ordeal in any way possible.

"When it finally ended, it was great," Delp said. "I'll take a walk."

Delp's walk-off walk clinched a 7-6 victory and was the first step in the Terps (5-3) sweeping their weekend three-game series against the Black Knights (1-6).

"The first game was a mess," coach Erik Bakich said. "Luckily, we were able to survive that one, because that one certainly could have gone either way."

After starting pitcher Sander Beck had a career-high 11 strikeouts Friday to help stake the Terps to a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning, reliever Chuck Ghysels entered and allowed a two-run single. A wild pitch one inning later scored another Army run, and the Terps trailed 6-4.

But with the Terps inching closer to dropping the series opener, catcher Jack Cleary hit a two-run single to tie the game at six in the bottom of the eighth.

Four scoreless innings followed that game-tying hit, with the Terps squandering several opportunities to win the game. Delp's plate discipline ultimately proved the difference, erasing what could have been a major step backward for the Terps and galvanizing the team for the rest of the weekend.

"Any time you go into extra innings, everything gets a little more emotional and intense," Ghysels said. "It was big for us to get that win."

"When you're on the other side of an extended, extra-inning emotional game, and then not to pull it off, at home, that's tough," Bakich said. "When you do pull it off, you've got a lot of momentum going into the next day."

The Terps built on the extra-inning victory the next day. Taking the mound for the second game of the series, right-hander David Carroll continued the dominant form he exhibited against Texas a week earlier, throwing 7.1 shutout innings while striking out four.

"We feel really good," starter Eric Potter said. "Our starters are giving good outings, going deep in the game. Feeling good."

The Terp bats also backed him up, with shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez scoring on a Delp groundout, designated hitter Brandon Padula hitting a solo home run and center fielder Korey Wacker driving in Rodriguez with a single to cap a 3-0 win.

In yesterday's series finale, the Black Knights jumped out to a 1-0 lead before the Terps bounced back with runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to take a 3-1 lead. The stretch marked the first time the Terps had scored in consecutive innings all season.

Potter went 7.1 innings and allowed only one run. But the bullpen, particularly Ghysels, was soon tested. The Lincoln Trail College transfer was expected to be the Terps' closer, but he had struggled in his first few appearances this season. Called on in the bottom of the eighth, Ghysels worked out of a bases-loaded jam and then pitched a scoreless ninth to record his first save as a Terp, striking out three batters in 1.1 innings.

"It kind of gets the monkey off my back," Ghysels said. "Coach called on me, and so I did what I could. Nothing I haven't seen before. I just need to find the right emotion level. In Texas, I was a little over-amped; Navy and the first time against Army, I was a little underdone. I kind of found that happy medium."

Afterward, Bakich's optimism was clearly tempered by the lack of offensive production that made the weekend sweep closer than he felt it should've been. But considering the series' extra-innings start, he was quite content with its finish.

"I'm happy that we've survived the way we have this weekend, especially that Friday night game," Bakich said. "But overall I thought it was good, not great."

schneider@umdbk.com