No. 23 Maryland baseball (32-15, 12-4 B1G) hadn’t put up a single-digit run tally in its last seven games, dominating teams with sheer power and excessive run totals.
But that changed against Nebraska (24-18-1, 9-7 B1G) on Friday when the Terps recorded just nine hits and failed to see the offensive success of recent weeks.
Tasked with finding another way to pull off the win, coach Rob Vaughn’s club passed the test, holding the Cornhuskers to just seven hits and four runs. The signs of an elite baseball team were on full display, as with the bats struggling, the other side of the ball stepped up to pull off the 8-4 win.
“I just thought our defense was outstanding,” Vaughn said. “When you have two good teams, two tough teams matched up against each other with really good arms going it’s going to be a play here and there. And we were fortunate tonight to make one more than they did.”
The Cornhuskers scored two early runs thanks to junior second baseman Max Anderson, who smacked a two-run homer to left to put Maryland into an early hole.
The Terps quickly cut that deficit in half when sophomore designated hitter Ian Petrutz brought home junior shortstop Matt Shaw with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first.
Maryland’s starting pitcher, right-hander Nick Dean, settled in after allowing the Anderson homer, striking out four batters across the second and third frames. But his pitch count was high, sitting at 76 pitches after four innings, and Vaughn pulled Dean for fifth-year right-hander Kenny Lippman to start the fifth.
It was Dean’s shortest inning total and least number of pitches thrown since March 25 at UCF when he threw three innings and 64 pitches. He had gone for at least four innings and 84 pitches in each start this season before Friday, eclipsing the 100-pitch mark in each of his last three outings.
Vaughn cited Dean’s forearm tightening up as the reason for his premature exit. It began to tighten up at the very beginning of his outing, but the senior pushed through four innings.
“I don’t think I’ve been more proud of a kid in how he’s competed than Nick Dean tonight,” Vaughn said. “There’s no secret he had some forearm tightness a couple of weeks ago, and from pitch two that guy did not feel good … just what an absolute warrior for his teammates and the most unselfish act I’ve ever seen.”
Maryland’s bats, after being quiet for a three-inning stretch after the opening frame, broke out in a major way in the bottom half of the fifth. Junior catcher Luke Shliger and senior third baseman Nick Lorusso each hit two-RBI doubles, while sophomore first baseman Eddie Hacopian scored Lorusso on a sac fly to right field. Lorusso extended his double into a triple after left fielder Gabe Swansen misplayed the ball as it rolled against the padding in foul territory.
By the end of the fifth inning, the Terps recorded four hits and five runs to storm back and take a 6-2 lead.
Lippman remained perfect through 2.1 innings of relief before sophomore catcher Josh Caron put a ball over the left field fence, cutting the Maryland lead from four to three. But Lippman was extremely effective in his relief stint, covering three innings and allowing just the one blemish to make up for Dean’s short outing.
“Really good today, moved the fastball around, the breaking ball was good,” Vaughn said of Lippman. “He did a great job of just attacking the zone, minimizing stuff, and he was outstanding.
Vaughn brought in junior left-hander Logan Ott for a one-at-bat stint, pitting him against graduate student center fielder Casey Burnham for a lefty-on-lefty matchup. Ott induced a groundout, and redshirt sophomore right-hander Nigel Belgrave entered the fray looking to record a five-out save.
Belgrave allowed three hits and a run plus a wild pitch, but he managed to escape the inning with just one run allowed and a 6-4 Maryland lead.
The Terps brought across two additional runs in the bottom of the eighth, both on wild pitches that scored runners from third, to give themselves an 8-4 cushion entering the ninth.
Tasked with a decision on who to use to shut the door, Vaughn chose to stick with his original plan and trust Belgrave to record the final three outs. But after he walked the leadoff man, the skipper quickly pivoted to redshirt senior right-hander David Falco Jr. to finish the job.
Falco recorded three straight outs to give the Terps the game-one victory and extend their win streak to nine games.
“Dean gave us four [innings] and allowed us to turn over to the bullpen, and those guys did their job and were outstanding,” Vaughn said.
