After its first Friday night conference victory, Maryland baseball failed to secure the series win against Michigan State on Saturday. The Terps went from outhitting the Spartans 17-12 in Game 1 to being outhit 12-9 in Game 2.
Maryland’s loss was fueled by errors and strikeouts as it fell to Michigan State, 12-4, to cut short a three-game win streak.
The Terps set the tone early during the second act of the weekend series with a three-run first inning, mirroring Friday’s opening frame. After Jordan
Crosland reached on an error by Spartan third baseman CJ Deckinga, junior Brayden Martin singled up the middle to put runners on the corners.
Designated hitter Ryan Costello smashed an RBI single down the left-field line to open the game. Three pitches later, freshman Bud Coombs blasted a single down the left-field line, bringing in two runs to give the Terps a 3-0 lead.
The Spartans responded quicker Saturday than they did Friday, though. After a ground out to starting pitcher Brayden Ryan, Noah Bright doubled down the left-field line. He was brought home on an overthrow to first from Ryan as Khamaree Thomas advanced to second on a dribbler to the pitcher.
Following another groundout, Deckinga launched a two-run bomb over the left field wall, tying the match before catcher Devin Russell ended the inning by throwing out Ryan McKay on an attempted steal.
The Spartans notched a 1-2-3 inning against the Terps in the top of the second while extending their lead in the bottom of the inning after an error by Martin allowed a run to score.
Martin redeemed himself by recording the second out, and Ryan threw his first strikeout of the game to close the inning.
Maryland tied the game once again in the top of the third inning with an RBI single by David Mendez. The second baseman earned his 7th RBI of the series and extended his hitting streak to 17 games.
But that would be the last time a Terp crossed home plate on Saturday.
“After the good start and in that third tying it up, it just overall wasn’t a good enough effort offensively, defensively, on the mound, all of that,” head coach Matt Swope said.
Michigan State took back the lead in the bottom of the inning with a three-run homer over the right center wall by Parker Picot, making it a 7-4 game.
Two scoreless innings ensued as both defenses worked overtime. The Terps recorded another error in the top of the fourth after Crosland failed to corral a fly ball. Then, Coombs recorded a full-extension diving catch for the first out of the inning, with a subsequent double play retiring the side.
Junior Andrew Koshy took the mound for Ryan in the bottom of the fifth, assisting in a double play and recording three punchouts. Koshy recorded a career-high innings pitched and total pitches, lasting four frames on 82 pitches.
“That’s just where we’re at,” Swope said. “Didn’t want to necessarily leave him in there that long towards the end, but we’re just trying to get through the weekend.”
He wasn’t the only pitcher with a marathon outing, though. Michigan State’s starting right-handed pitcher Aiden Donovan threw until the seventh inning, tossing seven strikeouts in 110 pitches.
“That guy’s good,” Swope said. “That’s what makes it so tough with [Ryan’s] error in the first, and I think that kind of set him back a little bit as well.”
The Spartans extended their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI single to left center by Issac Sturgess before Koshy closed the inning with his second strikeout –- but Michigan State didn’t stop there.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Spartans notched another three runs as Maryland failed to find a third out. Bright and Thomas each hit RBI singles up the middle, and Randy Seymour followed that up with a two-run RBI double.
Maryland created multiple scoring opportunities throughout its six scoreless innings, but it left a total of five runners on base, ending the game in underwhelming fashion.
“We just got to try to play a better game and win the series,” Swope said.
Three things to know:
1. Errors turned into unearned runs. Four errors by Maryland’s defense allowed for two Spartan runs to score. An overthrow by Ryan in the bottom of the first brought home Bright for Michigan State’s first run of the day, and an error by Martin at third gave the Spartans the lead in the second inning. The Terps now have a total of 65 errors this season and rank last in the Big Ten with a .958 fielding percentage.
2. Inconsistent offense. Maryland’s bats were on fire in the series opener — it had 17 hits — but barely recorded half that amount Saturday, only notching nine knocks. After Mendez and Martin combined for 10 RBIs Friday, they went 1-for-4 and 2-for-5 Saturday, respectively.
3. Rubber match tomorrow. Although Maryland took the lead in the series, Michigan State tied it Saturday, leading to a Sunday rubber match. Over the past three series, Maryland hasn’t announced its series finale starter until the day of, and with Sunday’s starter currently unknown, that appears set to continue.
