Photo courtesy of Maryland Athletics
Wake Forest’s junior outfielder Ethan Conrad came up to bat in the seventh inning with two runners on base.
The Marist transfer stepped into the batter’s box against his former teammate — Jack Wren. Shortly after, Conrad punished a middle-middle pitch over the left field fence, blowing the game open and giving the Demon Deacons a 4-1 lead.
Maryland’s (6-5) offense could not produce enough scoring to respond to the lead as it fell to No. 12 Wake Forest (10-3) 9-1 on Sunday in its last game of the weekend in Winston-Salem.
Maryland played Wake Forest in its doubleheader on Saturday, a game in which they won 9-8 after scoring three runs in the ninth inning. The Terps offense shined with twenty hits.
But the offense did not translate to Sunday’s contest, as the Terps were shut out through the first six innings and only ended the game with one run.
The Terps’ offensive struggles were largely due to the play of Blake Morningstar’s performance on the mound. The sophomore entered the game with a 2.16 ERA through two appearances.
He didn’t slow down against the Terps, retiring the first nine hitters he saw. Morningstar pounded the strike zone, finishing his outing with seven strikeouts and surrendering just three hits and no runs.
Once Morningstar was relieved, the Terps immediately improved offensively. The first two Maryland batters in the seventh inning reached base via a walk, giving the Terps a chance to tie the game.
“For the most part, their starter was … really really good,” head coach Matt Swope said. “So it’s just a matter where there’s just a couple moments in the game to really try and capitalize.” Coach Matt Swope said.
Freshman Colin Gibbs did just that, scoring VCU transfer Aden Hill on a ground out to first base with bases loaded. The run was Maryland’s only score of the game.
Freshman Logan Hastings got the start for the Terps. In his first three appearances, he ended with a 5.06 ERA in 5.1 combined innings pitched.
He had a better outing Sunday in his first collegiate start. He allowed base runners in all five of his innings pitched but stopped the Demon Deacons batters’ from getting any good contact. Most of his base runners came from walks as he pitched around the strike zone, grinding out the at-bats and mitigating any explosive offense from the Demon Deacons.
Hastings ended the game with five innings pitched, seven strikeouts, six walks and only one run allowed.
“You’re coming in at Wake Forest in a big time environment and just look like it was any ole bullpen or any ole day out there,” Swope said. “Gotta give him a lot of credit, and that’s why we try and trust him into doing that, and that’s how you get opportunity.”
The first run of the game didn’t come until the bottom of the fifth inning when Wake Forest’s sophomore Kade Lewis hit an RBI single that gave the Demon Deacons a 1-0 lead.
The Terps used seven pitchers in the doubleheader on Saturday and were working with a depleted pitching staff on Sunday.
The short break may have affected the Terp’s pitching staff as Wren took the mound for the second time in as many days. The graduate student pitched two innings against Princeton on Saturday and came into the game following Hastings’ start. He allowed two home runs in the seventh inning.
Wren came into Sunday’s game with an ERA of 1.93 in 9.1 innings pitched in four different appearances. He had five earned runs in his one inning pitched against Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons continued to do damage with the long ball as junior Jack Winnay added to Wake Forest’s lead in the eighth inning with a three-run home run. Winnay finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate with two home runs, two walks, and four RBIs.
The Terps finished their weekend in Winston-Salem with a 3-1 record and split the two-game series with the Demon Deacons.
“We got to build on this weekend, and moving forward, we’ve had three weekends now where there’s a good sample size,” Swope said. “We’ve seen a lot of different teams, seen a lot of good arms, been in a lot of different environments, it’s nice to be home for a series.”
The Terps will now look to their midweek game on Wednesday at home against James Madison before starting conference play.
