Maryland baseball falls in extras vs. Northwestern, 6-5

Photo courtesy of Chris Lyons/Maryland Athletics

With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth inning, Tony Livermore stepped up to the plate with just one hit through his four plate appearances.

His prior at-bats didn’t matter as Livermore lifted a ball to deep left field, securing the walk-off win for Northwestern.

The walk-off hit allowed Northwestern (11-19, 1-6 Big Ten) to complete its comeback, taking the game 6-5 in Evanston, Illinois on Friday night.

The Maryland baseball (22-13, 4-6 Big Ten) loss snaps the Wildcats’ ten-game losing streak and their first Big Ten win of the season. It also marks the third consecutive loss for the Terps and their second consecutive loss against a team with an RPI of less than 100.

Maryland entered the game at No. 39 and its RPI will surely plummet, despite an early four-run lead.

“You can’t lose a four-run lead,” coach Matt Swope said. “There’s no one thing to put your finger on, there’s no one thing to scream about. We get in these situations [and] we gotta execute.”

The game appeared to be one of Maryland’s fastest games, as the first seven innings took roughly 90 minutes to complete. Multiple lengthy reviews and extra innings prolonged the game time to over three hours.

Maryland secured the first run for its third consecutive game when Sam Hojnar ripped his team-leading 13th double into the right-field corner in the second frame. The RBI is Hojnar’s eighth in his past nine at-bats.

Northwestern starting pitcher Nolan Morr gave the Wildcats just four outs. Relief pitcher Matt McClure was sensational after entering in the second inning and went on to finish the game.

McClure inherited a situation with runners on the corners but pitched around the jam. The senior pitched a season-high 6.1 innings and prevented the Terps from running away with the game early on.

Maryland blew the game open in the fourth inning, as Jacob Orr just missed a grand slam, but still managed to clear the bases and give the Terps a 4-0 lead.

After a pair of troubling starts from Kenny Lippman, the right-hander returned back to form, producing most of his outs through soft contact. The Wildcats frequently swung early in the counts, which had severely affected Lippman in his prior outings, but he managed to pitch six strong innings.

Northwestern got on the board in the fourth inning when Trent Liolios crushed a two-run home run over the right field fence on the first pitch of the at-bat. The home run cut Maryland’s lead in half and was a needed response for the Wildcats after the Terps put up three runs in the top of the frame.

Liolios was one the Wildcats’ top hitters in the game, finishing 2-for-4 and recording a game-high three RBIs.

Jackson Freeman cut the Wildcats deficit back to two runs. The freshman took Lippman’s second pitch of the at-bat over the left field fence.

After a quality start from Lippman, Maryland’s bullpen looked to end its pitching struggles but was unable to do so, crumbling in the final two innings.

Logan Berrier had been a reliable pitcher for the Terps all year, but a sacrifice fly ball from Vince Bianchina and Liolios’ third RBI of the day tied the game for the Wildcats in the eighth inning. He also suffered his first loss of the season as the Wildcats walked it off in the tenth inning.

“The first five or six weeks, a lot of things went our way,” Swope said. “The bounces may not be going your way, so you just have to do whatever you can to overcome it.”

The Terps are back in action on Saturday at 2 p.m. with a chance to tie the series.