Bouncing Back

By Rob Galligan and Anthony Papio

Special to CollegeBaseballInsider.com

Maryland juniors Rob Galligan and Anthony Papio will contribute a journal to CollegeBaseballInsider.com for the 2015 season. Galligan has made 14 appearances out of the bullpen over his first two seasons and lists Muhammad Ali as his sports hero. Papio started 53 games in 2014, hitting .271 with nine doubles, two homers and 29 RBI and lists Pat Tillman as his sports hero.

Due to the weather, the series against UNC Wilmington was moved to a doubleheader on Saturday and one game on Sunday. As a result, our original departure on Thursday morning was moved to Friday afternoon. After two 12-hour bus trips to Georgia and back last weekend, the two six-hour bus trips to Wilmington, N.C., was easy for us.

The Terps ended up going 1-2 on the weekend (lost 8-6 of Game 1 DH on Saturday, lost 11-7 of Game 2 DH on Saturday, and won 11-9 of Game 3 on Sunday). Although this was not the end result we wanted, there were a few notable performances on the weekend.

·        Kengo Kawahara made his first collegiate start on Sunday. Kawahara was able to get his first collegiate hit and went 2 for 4 with a double, single and run.

·        Kevin Smith had a huge day on Sunday going 2 for 3 with his first collegiate home run (grand slam) and five RBI.

·        Alex Robinson recorded his first collegiate save on Sunday.

·        Kevin Martir notched his first home run on the year on Friday then his second home run on Sunday.

We were only in North Carolina for about 40 hours on the weekend, and most of it was at the field or sleeping, so we don’t have many stories.

With that being said, we have one story to tell. After the national anthem and before first pitch, we usually circle up around Alex Robinson, and he gives us a different speech. Prior to first pitch on Sunday, Robinson prepared one of the most badass speeches I have ever heard. He reinforced to all of us that winning is a habit, and winning is a lifestyle that is not given, but earned. The speech resonated with everyone, and even after a quick 4-0 deficit, we were able come back and win a must-win game on Sunday to avoid the sweep.

The Terps are scheduled to play a home mid-week game against Richmond on Wednesday and three-game series at home against Princeton.  Unfortunately, due to the condition of the field, the game on Wednesday against Richmond has been moved to Harford Community College.

We are looking forward to a very important week ahead of us. We plan to bounce back and get back on track with a few wins this week.

Go Terps!

Rob Galligan & Anthony Papio