Maryland Baseball: John Szefc ejected in win against Purdue

John Szefc most likely had high blood pressure after Thursday’s events surrounding the Maryland baseball team.

In the team’s second game of the day against Purdue, Szefc was ejected in the eighth inning for arguing a hit-by-pitch call that was retracted.

Outfielder Marty Costes was struck by a pitch on the elbow and began to jog to first base. Shortly after beginning his trot down the line, Costes was told to come back by the home plate umpire, who claimed that Costes didn’t make enough of an effort to get out of the way of the inside pitch.

As soon as the umpire made the call, Szefc made his way out of the Maryland dugout and proceeded to give the umpire a piece of his mind. He was tossed from the game shortly after the verbal altercation began.

Following the ejection, the Terrapins woke up as they scored three runs in the inning to take a 5-2 lead.

Prior to the Costes situation, Brandon Gum started off the inning with a walk. Despite the controversial reversal of his hit-by-pitch, Costes ended up walking in the end.

The pair was moved up to second and third base respectively after sacrifice bunt from Nick Dunn. Then third baseman AJ Lee was intentionally walked to load the bases for shortstop Kevin Smith.

Smith certainly didn’t disappoint as he smashed a bases-clearing double down the left field line to gave the Terps a 5-2 lead. They would go on to win by that very same margin over the Boilermakers.

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With the win, Purdue was eliminated from the Big Ten Tournament and Maryland will face the loser of Friday’s game between top seed Nebraska and Iowa. The Terps fell to the Hawkeyes 9-8 earlier in the day despite erasing a 6-1 deficit and even leading at one point.