Freshman Mark DiLuia made his first career weekend start in place of the injured Taylor Bloom against Purdue (17-16,5-4) on Friday. DiLuia, the typical midweek starter for Maryland (16-21, 3-6), danced around some damage in order to pitch six innings while allowing four runs.
DiLuia’s start was exactly what the Terps needed, and a performance that, in most situations, would be enough to earn a victory.
“Mark DiLuia was an absolute dude tonight,” said head coach Rob Vaughn about his starter.
However, the Terps’ offense offered no support, as the Boilermakers won the first game of the weekend series 7-1.
Maryland, a team that has struggled at hitting with runners in scoring position all season, continued that trend Friday night, leaving 10 runners on base. Despite recording 12 hits, an A.J. Lee RBI single in the sixth was the only real offense the lineup managed against Purdue starter Tanner Andrews.
“It’s a really weird night,” Vaughn said, alluding to the Terps only managing one run on 12 hits. “Our quality at-bats were great. We got a lot of hits…we’d string three together but need four, we’d string four together but need five.”
Andrews was not flawless in his 7-plus innings of work, allowing 11 hits, but worked his way in and out of a few jams while only allowing the one run. Reliever Ross Learnard worked two scoreless innings to finish out the game for Purdue.
Much like the Maryland offense, the Boilermakers squandered multiple opportunities to score runs, leaving 11 of their own runners on base. Yet, runs in two innings were all the team needed to come out victorious.
The first came in the second, as RBI doubles from Evan Warden and Nick Dalesandro as well as a run-scoring from single Skyler Hunter capped the four-run inning for the visitors.
At that point, it seemed the Boilermakers had figured out DiLuia, squaring up most of the freshman’s pitches. However, the right-hander settled in and pitched four consecutive shutout innings before exiting the ballgame.
After Maryland reliever Grant Burleson threw two scoreless, Purdue regained some rhythm in the ninth against Alec Tuohy. A bases-clearing triple from Alec Olund put the Boilermakers up 7-1 and all but sealed the victory.
Friday marked the fourth consecutive loss for the Terps, and the seventh straight series-opening loss. Hunter Parsons will make his first Saturday start of the season tomorrow at 2 p.m.
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