Over the weekend, Maryland baseball lost its sixth Big Ten weekend series against Michigan State. After a Friday night victory, the Terps only recorded a combined total of 13 hits and five runs in the final two games.
On Tuesday, the Terps notched that same number of hits and more than doubled the amount of runs in an 11-2 blowout of Georgetown, for their sixth consecutive midweek victory.
Neither team plated a run in the first two innings. Ryan Costello and Ty Kaunas notched the first two hits of
the game but never made it into scoring position.
The Terps only allowed two Hoya baserunners in the first two innings, but one didn’t stay on for long. Freshman catcher Franklin Pichardo Jr. recorded the second out of the game after throwing out Georgetown’s Connor Peek. Peek led the Hoyas in stolen bases — with 16 in 16 attempts — but Pichardo Jr. ended that perfect streak Tuesday.
Right-hander Jake Yeager earned the starting nod for the Terps, making his first start since April 8. The sophomore threw three strikeouts and only walked two batters before being replaced by Nic Morlang in the bottom of the third.
Before Morlang took the mound, Maryland brought around five runs in the top of the third to blow the game open.
Pichardo Jr. kicked off the inning with a single into left field. Following an out and a hit by pitch, Costello singled to right field to load the bases for freshman Bud Coombs. The freshman launched another single through left field, bringing in Maryland’s first run.
A sacrifice fly by David Mendez brought in a second run — Mendez’s 38th RBI of the season. An RBI double into the right-field corner by Paul Jones II and a two-run single to left field extended Maryland’s lead to 5-0.
The Hoyas attempted to muster a comeback, but solo home runs by Ashton Seymore and Dylan Larkins in the fourth and fifth innings were all the offense Georgetown could manage in the contest.
Facing a 1-2 count in the top of the fifth, Jones II smashed his sixth home run of the season down the left field line, bringing David Mendez home with him and strengthening Maryland’s lead.
The Terps’ bullpen held strong as right-hander Ryan Bailey replaced Morlang in the bottom of the fifth, followed by Andrew Koshy in the sixth. They each recorded a strikeout.
The Hoyas brought in their fifth pitcher of Tuesday’s contest in the top of the seventh, left-hander Camron Poe, who only threw 20 pitches.
Coombs wasted no time, singling on the first offering thrown by Poe. After Mendez flew out to center field, the freshman stole second for his fourth career stolen base in five attempts. Then, Jones II and Kaunas drew walks to load the bases.
As Georgetown fielded its sixth pitcher, a sacrifice fly by Nate Hawton-Henley brought in Maryland’s eighth run before Pichardo Jr. slammed a single to left field. One runner scored, and another quickly followed after an error by the Hoyas left-fielder Travis Ilitch, making it a 10-2 game.
Right-hander Cristofer Cespedes stepped onto the mound for Maryland in the bottom of the seventh. Two singles and a walk loaded up the bases with two outs. But Cespedes made it out of the jam, tossing his second strikeout of the game.
Redshirt junior James Gladden took the mound to close out the final two innings. Gladden threw a series-high five strikeouts in his relief appearance, keeping the Hoyas at bay to secure Maryland’s victory.
Three things to know
1. Freshman frenzy. Maryland’s freshmen and redshirt freshmen made up over half of its lineup on Tuesday night. Costello, Coombs, Kaunas, Hawton-Henley and Pichardo Jr. recorded a combined 10 of the Terps’ 14 hits and six of their 10 RBIs.
2. Bullpen holds on. After allowing 35 runs over the weekend, Maryland’s bullpen bounced back Tuesday. Six pitchers allowed only two runs and five walks while throwing 15 total strikeouts, the most strikeouts thrown by the Terps in a game all season.
3. Midweek victories. Tuesday marked Maryland’s sixth consecutive midweek victory, dating back to March 24. The Terps have one more midweek game this season, facing Towson on May 5. If they come out victorious, they’ll end the season with a 10-3 midweek record, a slight improvement from their 8-5 record in last season’s midweek slate.
