Photo by Rose Fernandes/ Maryland Athletics
As Hollis Porter looked up on his way to second base, he saw center fielder Robby Bolin shouting and flexing his muscles. Porter soon learned that the center fielder had just robbed him of a home run in athletic fashion.
Porter’s fourth-inning flyout was emblematic of Maryland baseball’s offensive struggles in Saturday’s 7-2 loss to Nebraska at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. Despite scoring 12 runs in the Terps’ previous outing, they mustered just two runs.
“We had plenty of opportunities to push through,” head coach Matt Swope said. “But just not enough today, not a good enough effort to come back and try to win a series.”
Maryland (20-24, 6-14 Big Ten) frequently utilized the home run ball as a way to generate offense, but the Terps did not homer against Nebraska starting pitcher Horn. While the Terps were making contact against the sophomore pitcher, it was often weak contact that frequently resulted in groundouts.
Maryland’s bats were silent throughout the game. The Terps did not get their first run until the seventh inning, failing to break through against Horn. The right-hander finished the game with just six hits through six innings and 92 pitches.
In the fourth inning, it looked like Porter had broken through the ironclad Nebraska pitching, but center fielder Robby Bolin prevented the Terps from doing so. The junior used all of his 6-foot-2 frame, leaping up and extending his glove over the yellow line on the wall, and making it clear Porter was out when he came down.
The game got out of hand for Maryland in the fifth inning. A series of flyballs got by Maryland fielders, starting with an outfield collision between left fielder Liam Willson and shortstop Chris Hacopian. In the ensuing at-bat, a flyball dropped just out of the reach of Aden Hill in left field, scoring left fielder Cayden Brumbaugh from second base.
The Corn Huskers’ (20-23, 8-12 Big Ten) final run came on a line drive that got over Hacopian’s head, scoring a third run of the inning and leaving the Terps with a five-run deficit.
Freshman Jake Yeager started the following inning. Despite throwing a scoreless inning, Swope was unhappy with his performance and replaced him with Oscar Melendez.
“You can’t have freebies,” Swope said. “Yeah, it looks like a scoreless inning, but pitching in trouble all day, it’s just not gonna work at this level.”
The Terps ended the day with three errors, two throwing and one fielding. Two of those errors turned into runs.
“The level of focus from every single person, whether they’re in the lineup or they’re not, has to raise tomorrow,” Swope said.
Designated hitter Case Sanderson had the final RBI of the fifth inning, and the sophomore continued to do damage against Maryland’s pitching staff in the following innings.
Sanderson blasted a solo home run in the ninth inning over the center field wall, grabbing his third RBI of the contest and capping a perfect game. Sanderson went 3-for-3 at the plate with two extra base hits and drew two walks, getting on base in every plate appearance.
Maryland will now look to Sunday’s rubber match to claim its first Big Ten series win this season.
