Maryland baseball falls to Charlotte in series opener, 9-5

Kenny Lippman had dominated in his prior starts, coming into the game with a 1.20 ERA. But he found himself in an early hole to start the game with the bases loaded and no one out.

Lippman looked to climb out, but a hit batter and another walk set the tone for the pitching staff for the rest of the game.

Maryland baseball’s abundance of free passes early on and its struggles at the plate allowed Charlotte to cruise to a 9-5 victory Friday night in the opening game of the weekend series in Charlotte.

The Terps’ pitching staff had problems locating the strike zone all day, issuing 13 walks. At the plate, Maryland (10-4) struggled to make contact, striking out 19 times over the course of the game.

The 19 strikeouts set a season-high for the Terps and a school-high for the Charlotte (8-6) pitching staff. The 49ers set their school-best last game against Western Carolina with 18 but broke it just one game later against Maryland.

Lippman struggled to find the strike zone to open the game. He surrendered four walks and hit a batter, allowing Charlotte to grab three runs in the early frame.

Solid early pitching from 49ers starter Cole Reynolds allowed his side to gain a large lead in the third inning, as his offense got a pair of home runs from Rene Lastres and Juan Correa. A double to deep right field by Carson Bayne scored Johnny Sutryk from first and extended the lead to 7-0.

Free passes continued to hurt Maryland in the following inning, as Duke McCarron walked four consecutive batters to allow Charlotte to score twice and take a 9-0 lead.

Andrew Johnson made his first appearance of the season for the Terps in the sixth inning. He silenced the 49ers’ offense for the rest of the game, going three innings and retiring nine of 11 batters.

But Maryland’s lackluster offense proved too much to overcome.

Reynolds dominated a Maryland lineup that was red-hot coming over the weekend. Reynolds retired the first seven batters he faced and struck out ten batters through the 5-plus innings.

The Terps finally got on the board in the sixth inning in explosive fashion. Three consecutive walks from the 49ers allowed Elijah Lambros to score two runs on a double down the third base line. Jordan Crossland then belted a three-run home run over the left field fence in the following at-bat, bringing the score to 9-5. Crossland’s long blast was his first home run and his first three RBIs as a Terp. 

But the five-run sixth inning was all Maryland’s offense could muster as strikeouts plagued the team the rest of the game, ultimately resulting in the loss.

Maryland will not play on Saturday as heavy rain is expected throughout the day. The Terps will instead play a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at noon.