Maryland Celebrates Rise With Historic Night, NCAA Tournament Win

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – First pitch for Maryland’s NCAA Tournament opener Friday against Long Island was scheduled for 7 p.m. Coach Rob Vaughn made it into his office in plenty of time to prepare, pulling in around 8:30 a.m.

“I couldn’t sit at home because I’ll just be thinking about everything,” he said.

There certainly was a lot to think about Friday. Maryland, for the first time ever, was hosting regionals. The Terrapins, having already set a program record for wins and winning a conference title for the first time in 51 years, were chosen by the selection committee as one of the 16 host sites for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Terrapins were seeded No. 15 overall and were ready to welcome Wake Forest, Connecticut and Long Island to Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.

These are heady times for the program. Friday would be the biggest moment yet for the Terrapins. In preparation for the NCAA Tournament, Maryland had added a set of bleachers beyond the left field fence, bringing The Bob’s capacity to 3,000 fans. By Wednesday, those tickets were all sold out for Friday night.

The Terrapins fans, like Vaughn, arrived plenty early. A line to get into the stadium snaked down the street when Maryland came out to take batting practice. A crush of tailgaters gathered around the corner. The 68-year-old stadium has seen a lot over the years. It has seen the Terrapins play the Baltimore Orioles and the Soviet national team.

Never had it seen something like Friday night. By first pitch, The Bob was packed, and the fans were loud. The Terrapins made sure not to disappoint.

After a quick, quiet first inning, Maryland broke out for nine runs in the second inning. The Terrapins sent 14 batters to the plate and got big swings from Nick Lorusso, who hit a three-run double, and Matt Shaw, who followed with a two-run home run.

Maryland never stopped scoring. The Terrapins added three more runs in the third, seven in the fourth and four more over their final three turns at the plate. By the end of the night, they had a 23-2 victory and their 23 runs tied for the fourth most in an NCAA Tournament game.

In leaving no doubt, the Terrapins sent their fans home happy.

“The one thing you don’t want to do is lay an egg when they show up,” Vaughn said. “That’s when they don’t come back.”

Maryland’s offense hasn’t laid too many eggs this season. It came into the day averaging 9.1 runs per game, seventh most in the country, and its 123 home runs were the third most nationally.

That offense showed up in a big way Friday against Long Island and starter Joshua Loeschorn, who led the nation in wins. Every starter scored a run and recorded a hit. Troy Scheffler led the way with three hits and three runs and Lorusso went 2-for-3 with two doubles and three walks.

That offensive performance alone would have made it an unforgettable night. Combine it with the crowd and the stage the Terrapins did it on and Friday will live in program lore forever.

“How loud, how energetic everybody was, was something really special,” Lorusso said. “It’s something I’ll remember forever.”

Vaughn and the Terrapins were quick to say after the game that they aren’t going to be happy with winning just one game in the NCAA Tournament and won’t get caught up in the emotion of Friday. They need two more wins to advance to super regionals and they’d like to keep this special season going as long as possible. On Saturday, Maryland will face Connecticut in the winner’s bracket game and the Big East champion Huskies will present more of a challenge than LIU did Friday.

But the relentless schedule of the NCAA Tournament shouldn’t stop anyone from appreciating what Maryland accomplished Friday just by taking the field at home. This is a program that went more than 40 years without playing in the NCAA Tournament before a breakthrough in 2014. It required extra effort and support to get The Bob in shape to host a regional. It needed a concerted effort from three different head coaches over more than a decade to pull the program out of the bottom half of the conference and into a regional-caliber team. It needed the season-long excellence of this team to earn the No. 15 overall seed.

All of that came together Friday night in College Park for a sold-out ballpark and a historic on-field performance.

“Looking out to see the bleachers full out there, much less the stadium, I think that’s a testament to this team and how hard these kids work,” Vaughn said. “It’s not an overnight thing, it’s something we worked really hard to do and been really meticulous with. Seeing that kind of come to fruition has been pretty awesome.”

After a night like Friday, it’s easy to see why Vaughn, the Terrapins and their fans couldn’t wait to get to The Bob on Friday. And there’s good reason to think everyone is going to want to come back as soon as they can.