Maryland baseball falls to No. 12 USC, 14-4, in series finale

Photo courtesy of Grayson Belanger/Maryland Athletics.

The Terps had an opportunity to take the series on Sunday against the Trojans. That opportunity didn’t last very long. 

Maryland baseball dropped the final game of its weekend series against No. 12 USC, 14-4, leaving the Dirty Terps without a Big Ten series win halfway through the season.

Starting pitcher Jake Yeager remains winless after exiting the game in the second inning. The sophomore rightie gave up six earned runs on five hits and walked four batters – he only managed to record three outs before being taken out.

Brayden Ryan, Yeager’s replacement, did not fare much better – he gave up a home run to Augie Lopez on his very first pitch of the game. Lopez finished with two home runs and six RBIs – the most any single hitter has achieved against Maryland this season. Ryan gave up four runs in three hits over three full innings of work.

The Terps did have chances at the plate, but not enough to make up for a ten-run deficit. Maryland drew nine walks and had several chances with men on first and second, but with six batters going hitless in the game, runners routinely were stranded. Last season, leaving runners on base was a persistent problem, although this season the Terps have capitalized on more of their RISP opportunities.

Austin Weiss got another opportunity to pitch against a ranked team, although he was unable to match his previous stellar performance. Against No. 1 UCLA, Weiss struck out Roch Cholowsky – the expected top pick in the upcoming MLB Draft – and Will Gasparino, who led the NCAA in home runs earlier this season. On Sunday, Weiss did not record a strikeout, and past control issues resurfaced. Weiss hit two batters and walked another two, but allowed only one run. 

For the time being, Maryland has played its last game against a ranked team. None of the Terps’ remaining opponents have been in the top 25 in the country at any point this season, and only one of their remaining Big Ten opponents (Michigan) currently has a winning record.

Maryland will host the Richmond Spiders for a midweek rematch on Tuesday. The Terps lost their previous meeting with the Spiders 7-5.