Photo courtesy of Dylan Davies/Maryland Terrapins
In the bottom of the first with runners on first and second, Terps’ pitcher Omar Melendez walked Lance Trippel to load the bases. The Terp’s pitching staff would walk the next four batters, only throwing one strike in the process.
The Maryland Terrapins (10-10, 1-2 Big Ten) finished the game giving up 16 walks and fell 15-8 to the South Florida Bulls (9-8) losing their third three-game series of the season.
Melendez got the start on the mound for the Terps. Melendez has started two of his five appearances this season and has a 5.27 ERA in 13.2 innings pitched. The senior was on the Terps last year where he had more success as he started six games, played fourteen, and had a 4.64 ERA in 52.1 innings pitched.
On the other side, sophomore Corey Kling started on the mound for South Florida. It was his first collegiate start for Kling, who has been coming out of the bullpen for the Bulls. The Bulls, like the Terps, have been trying to find roles for their pitching staff.
Kling coming into the game had six appearances, with 8.2 innings pitched and a 4.15 ERA. He had his worst outing of his season after allowing five runs in his two innings pitched.
Melendez didn’t have a long day, however, as he walked four batters in the bottom of the inning, and had a stretch where he threw ten straight balls. He scored three batters, two of them after RBI walks, and was swapped out for senior Andrew Johnson.
Johnson came in and walked two more batters in the bottom of the fifth. The zone was tight, but the Terps’ pitching staff wasn’t making a strong case for any of their pitches to be called strikes.
The Bulls ended the inning with five runs, all of which were credited to Melendez, four of them coming from RBI walks. Melendez ended the game with two hits, four walks, zero strikeouts, forced two outs, and earned five runs. He pitched 11 strikes in his 32 pitches, a rough start for Melendez.
Johnson’s day didn’t last very long either as he walked the first two batters he saw in the second inning. He ended the inning with one earned run after sixth-year Logan Koester came in to clean up.
The Terps’ hitting started hot as well, as redshirt sophomore Hollis Porter hit a deep bomb to center field for a three-run home run in the top of the first inning. They also added to the scoring in the top of the second inning as freshman Parker Corbin scored off a wild pitch, and sophomore Chris Hacopian brought in a run with an RBI single.
The Terps offense then fell flat as the Bulls brought in senior Jorge DeCardenas.
DeCardenas pitched in three games before Sunday’s game, two of which were starts, he entered the game with 12.2 innings pitched and a 4.97 ERA. In DeCardenas’ first five innings he pitched for the Bulls on Sunday, he pounded the strike zone, having seven strikeouts, and only allowed one earned run and two hits.
He came back out for the eighth inning and the Terps finally produced some hits as senior Jacob Orr got a lead-off double, and after two strikeouts brought DeCardenas’ total to nine on the day, senior Elijah Lambros hit an RBI double, and sophomore Brayden Martin brought him home with a single.
Martin has done a great job at the lead-off position so far this year, as he has 26 hits and 20 walks through the first 20 games of the season for the Terps, getting on base in every game so far.
South Florida’s Matt Rose was a big reason for the Bulls’ offensive success, going 3-for-5 with a walk and an RBI. He has been good all series going 3-for-6 with a walk and an RBI in the two prior games.
The Maryland pitching staff allowed 15 runs in total as six total pitchers came into the game for the Terps. The Terps used four pitchers in the two prior games this series and were hoping for a better performance from their rejuvenated bullpen.
The Terps’ best-hitting performance came from Lambros who went 3-for-4 at the plate, with two RBI doubles.
Maryland ended the game with eight runs on ten hits, compared to the Bulls’ fifteen runs on eleven hits.
The Terps are yet to win a three-game series so far this season with losses at Western Carolina, vs UCLA, and at South Florida.
Maryland will now look to their midweek game against Georgetown at home on Tuesday to bring them back above .500.
