Maryland baseball pushes past Michigan State 3-2 in opening round of Big Ten tournament

Maryland baseball looked to notch the go ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning against Michigan State in a tie game.

The Terps’ offense — which shined in the regular season — uncharacteristically struggled in the prior seven frames, recording only three hits against Spartans starter Nick Powers.

Jacob Orr started the inning with a leadoff single into left center field, and advanced to third base after a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. Then Luke Shliger gave Maryland the hit it needed, roping a double down the left field line to bring home Orr.

Shliger’s RBI double resulted as the game-winning hit for No. 1-seed Maryland (38-19), as the Terps downed No. 8-seed Michigan State (32-21) in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament, 3-2.

While Maryland’s team captain finished the game 2-3 from the plate with two doubles, a run and the game-winning RBI, it was the Terps’ defense that starred on Tuesday.

After allowing a Spartans run in the first inning, Maryland’s defense tightened and ended the next four frames with double plays, the biggest coming in the third and fifth.

The Spartans looked to have started a rally in the third inning after loading the bases with one out, but the Terps’ defense delivered. Michigan State designated hitter Sam Busch grounded straight into a double play, ending the frame and missing a prime scoring opportunity.

Junior shortstop Matt Shaw shined on Maryland’s fourth double play of the night in the fifth frame, making a leaping catch in the shallow outfield before falling and flipping onto the ground. Shaw quickly got up and tossed the ball to junior second baseman Kevin Keister, nabbing the runner sliding back to the base. 

Michigan State appeared to be starting another rally in the eighth inning, putting runners on first and second with one out. But the Terps’ defense answered with their fifth double play of the game, stopping the Spartans’ momentum yet again. 

Maryland’s defense was a stark contrast to its last series against Penn State, where the Terps committed nine errors in three games. 

The Terps’ double-play heavy defense bailed out its offense that struggled to find success against the Spartans.

Maryland jumped to a one-run lead in the first inning after back-to-back sac flies courtesy of senior third baseman Nick Lorusso and sophomore designated hitter Ian Petrutz. But the Terps failed to find much offense after that, recording only one hit over the next four frames. Shliger’s third inning double was the only base appearance for Maryland in that span, as the Terps went down in order three separate frames and struck out five times. 

Powers had no trouble finding the strike zone for the Spartans, throwing 64 of his 92 pitches for strikes. The junior left-hander exited in the eighth inning, holding the Terps to only five hits and one walk. 

While Powers went deep for Michigan State, Maryland failed to achieve the same feat from its starter, freshman left-hander Kyle McCoy. McCoy threw only 15 pitches in his start, exiting with two outs in the first inning. McCoy had been struggling with forearm stiffness prior to the game and had not pitched since May 6th due to the injury.

Fifth-year right-hander Kenny Lippman came in for McCoy and threw 3.1 shutout innings, striking out a pair of Spartans while getting helped out by the superb Maryland defense. Lippman entered the game with a 5.73 ERA, but finished the night with his second-best outing of the season.

Michigan State got to redshirt sophomore right-hander Nigel Belgrave in the seventh frame, tying the bout at two. Redshirt junior center fielder Greg Ziegler led off the inning with a triple into left, and scored three at bats later as junior first baseman Brock Vradenburg shot a single through the left side.

But the Spartans’ troubles with runners on base ultimately cost them, as they fell to the Terps despite recording 12 more baserunners.