Maryland baseball drops fourth Big Ten series in 16-4 loss to Nebraska

Photo courtesy of Chris Lyons/Maryland Athletics

With two outs and a favorable count, Joey McMannis sought to strand a runner in scoring position and keep Nebraska off the board in the opening frame. But designated hitter Tyler Stone worked the count full before smashing a two-run line drive over the right field fence. 

The two-out home run was the first time Nebraska had scored first all series and set the tone for a big day from the Cornhuskers’ offense.

Nebraska (25-12, 8-4 Big Ten) scored in bunches all game long, allowing them to cruise to a 16-4 win, securing the final game of the weekend series in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Sunday afternoon.

The series loss for Maryland (25-16, 6-9 Big Ten) makes it four consecutive Big Ten series losses. 

Nebraska continued to add to its lead in the second inning when a wild pitch and a pair of hits from Cayden Brumbaugh and Riley Silva gave the Cornhuskers a 5-1 advantage.

The offense was dominant at the plate with two outs, doing most of its damage with two outs. The Cornhuskers scored four of their first five runs with two outs.

Nebraska blew the game wide open in the fourth inning. A pair of throwing errors from Jacob Orr spotted the Cornhuskers two runs. A trio of hits from Brumbaugh, Ben Columbus and Cole Evans made it a five-run inning and extended the big lead to nine.

The Terps were fueled on Saturday by a stellar performance by Omar Melendez, but Joey McMannis could not deliver a similar outing. McMannis struggled with his location all game, surrendering eight runs on eight hits through three innings.

Despite McMannis’ short mound stint, Maryland’s bullpen continued to struggle. The Terps used five bullpen pitchers through three innings. 

The first five Terps were retired to start the game, but with two outs, Kevin Keister recorded his first hit of the series and Maryland’s first hit of the game on an opposite-field solo home run. When Keister made contact, it appeared to be a harmless fly ball, but it kept carrying until it finally sailed over the right field fence.

The Terps were stymied all day by Nebraska’s starting pitcher Will Walsh. He consistently made quick work of the Terps, striking out seven through 5.1 innings pitched.

Maryland’s offense attempted to make a comeback with a three-run sixth, but it was too little too late for the Terps.

The bullpen’s struggles were highlighted in the sixth inning. Three Maryland pitchers combined for five earned runs while issuing two hits, four walks and a hit batter. The five-run inning was Nebraska’s second of the game.

The big inning also triggered the run rule, which serves as a mercy rule as the Terps finished the game down by ten or more runs through seven innings.

On Tuesday, the Terps face James Madison at 6 p.m. in the final game of the 10-game road trip.