Stetson’s Friday starter Logan Gilbert is an intimidating figure on the mound. The 6-foot-6-inch junior right-hander entered the afternoon matchup against Maryland with a 4-0 record and a 2.67 ERA. In addition to that, Gilbert is projected to go in the first round of the upcoming MLB Draft.
Against the Terps (10-12), he lived up to the hype, tossing 8 ⅓ innings and only allowing two runs en route to a 12-3 victory for Stetson (19-3).
Coming of an 11-run performance against Elon on Wednesday, the Terps’ offense was unable to figure out Gilbert, who surrendered just four hits while striking out 10 batters.
In the bottom of the fifth, Maryland had their best opportunity to strike against Gilbert, with back-to-back singles from AJ Lee and Marty Costes and Richie Schiekofer getting hit by a pitch loading the bases for the Terps with only one out. However, like many other times this season, the lineup squandered the opportunity, scoring only one run on Justin Morris’ fielder’s choice.
Gilbert escaped the inning by striking out Zach Jancarski and settled back down, allowing only two hits in his final 3 ⅓ innings of work.
The Maryland offense would strike again in the bottom of the ninth when freshman reliever Austin Wood entered the game for Stetson. Lee drove in Nick Dunn on an RBI-single and Chris Alleyne brought Lee home when he grounded out to Wood. However, the game was already out of reach for the Terps
The bottom of the ninth also brought on a scary moment from Maryland, as Costes had to exit the game after colliding with an umpire while running out his single. Costes, who recorded his second consecutive multi-hit game, was replaced by Will Watson.
Taylor Bloom got the start for the Terps, going 6 ⅔ innings and allowing five earned runs on seven hits. Though Bloom was not at his best, the right-hander was once again hindered by a lack of run support. In his last three starts, Maryland has only scored four runs.
The Terps defense also continued the trend of sloppy play, committing two errors in the third inning that led to two runs for the Hatters.
Stetson’s lineup consistently put pressure on Maryland all afternoon, recording 13 hits and scoring in six of nine innings. The most explosive inning for the Hatters came in the ninth, when they struck for five insurance runs off Terps’ reliever Grant Burleson, who struggled in his one inning of work.
Senior Austin Hale and juniors Jonathan Meola and Mike Spooner all had two hits a piece for the Hatters, while senior Brooks Wilson had a team-high three knocks.
Game two is Saturday at 2 p.m.
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