Preview: Maryland baseball stumbles into weekend series at Northwestern

Photo courtesy of Chris Lyons/Maryland Athletics

Maryland baseball entered Tuesday’s matchup against Georgetown looking to stay undefeated in its midweek games.

The Terps had played the Hoyas twice this season and won both games handily, by at least seven runs in each contest.

However, game three between Maryland (22-12, 4-5 Big Ten) and Georgetown (23-9, 5-1 Big East) was a different story.

The Terps got off to a fast start – similar to their prior two meetings – as the first four batters for Maryland all scored.

Ryan Van Buren pitched in all of Maryland’s games against the Hoyas. The righty went a minimum of 4.2 innings in the wins but struggled on Tuesday. This marks two straight starts of Van Buren lasting less than three innings and allowing three or more earned runs.

The junior’s location was off, and it was evident from the start when lead-off hitter Jake Hyde took Van Buren deep early in the count to kickstart Georgetown’s offense.

Van Buren provided the Terps with a season-low of just five outs, surrendering four runs and two home runs. His second consecutive short stint on the mound forced coach Matt Swope to rely on a struggling and injury-riddled bullpen.

“I don’t think you need to say much,” Swope said on Van Buren’s outing. “When you score 12 runs and have all those different types of leads, it doesn’t matter whether [Van Buren] is starting or whoever is on the mound; you just have to find ways to win those games.”

Freshman Evan Smith relieved Van Buren in the second frame and tossed a career-best 3.1 innings for the Terps, striking out seven. Smith’s dominance on the mound allowed the Terps to maintain and expand their lead.

“If he attacks, he’s hard to hit, so I was really happy with that outing,” Swope said about Smith’s performance. “We knew we were going to put him in [as] one of the first people…and he did a good job and took advantage of an opportunity.”

After three consecutive scoreless innings, Sam Hojnar broke the drought, blasting a three-run home run in the sixth inning to put Maryland up 9-4.

Smith was relieved in the bottom frame, and the trio of Andrew Johnson, Duke McCarron and Alex Walsh showcased Maryland’s bullpen woes. Over a two-inning span, the three pitchers combined for three home runs and nine runs. The Terps went from being up five runs to being down 13-9.

Hojnar attempted to single-handedly bring the Terps back into the game, crushing his second three-run home run of the afternoon to pull them within a run. But that was all Maryland’s offense could muster, as the Terps dropped just their fourth game after scoring first. It also marked their first midweek loss of the season.

“The good thing about baseball is we can come right back out tomorrow and get a chance to win,” Swope said.

Maryland looked to do just that against UMBC (11-15, 3-3 American East Conference), whom it had also beaten previously this season. The last matchup saw a 13-12 slugfest, with Maryland winning by scoring five runs in the final two innings.

Wednesday’s matchup was again the opposite, as pitching limited the two teams to six combined runs.

Hojnar broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning with an RBI base hit, scoring Brayden Martin.

Hojnar was one of Maryland’s best players during its back-to-back midweek matchups, going 4-7 at the plate and recording seven RBIs.

Kevin Keister added another run in the inning to double Maryland’s lead at 2-0. Though that would be the only inning the Terps could manufacture any runs.

Despite the Terps’ previous pitching woes, the staff bounced back in Wednesday’s contest. Meade Johnson recorded a season-high five innings pitched and five strikeouts, while Omar Melendez tossed two scoreless frames.

It wasn’t enough to make up for Maryland’s lack of production at the plate. The Retrievers recorded six hits and three runs in the fifth inning to take a 3-2 lead. They added an insurance run in the eighth inning to hand Maryland its second consecutive loss.

The Terps will now travel to Evanston, Illinois, to take on a struggling Northwestern (10-16, 0-6 Big Ten) squad that is amid a ten-game losing streak.

The Wildcats enter the series last in the conference in ERA (7.62) and batting average (.253). This resulted in Northwestern losing four of their six Big Ten matchups by at least four runs.

If the Terps can secure a series sweep, it will prevent them from suffering their first losing week of the season.

First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday, and the series will continue on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.