The Maryland baseball team’s pitching staff came into Sunday’s doubleheader against Michigan State on a hot streak, giving up a total of eight runs in its last five games.
This trend continued in the first game of the day, as the Terps shut down the Spartans’ lineup en route to a 2-1 victory, clinching a weekend series win.
Coming of a strong offensive showing on Friday night, Maryland looked poised to light up the scoreboard again after striking early. Second baseman Nick Dunn got the scoring started with an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning, scoring first baseman Brandon Gum.
However, after he escaped the inning with no further damage, Michigan State starter Andrew Gonzalez settled in. The junior right-hander would throw 5.1 innings, only allowing the one earned run on a total of five hits.
However, Maryland was able to muster up one unearned run against Gonzalez in the fifth inning, which would prove to be the winning score. With AJ Lee on third base and Zach Jancarski on first, Gum laid down a sacrifice bunt down the first base line to score Lee. Gum would advance to second on the play after Michigan State catcher Matt Byars overthrew first baseman Zack McGuire trying to retire Gum. Gonzalez would end up stranding Jancarski and Gum to limit the damage.
Opposite of its performance on Friday night, the Maryland offense was relatively quiet, as it finished with six hits and left six runners on base. Luckily for the Terps, two runs would be all they needed.
After a strong performance last weekend against Penn State, freshman pitcher Tyler Blohm pitched well again on Sunday. The left-hander threw five scoreless innings while only allowing five hits to pick up his seventh win on the season.
Following a passed ball and a single to begin the sixth, the Terps looked to reliever Ryan Hill to keep the game scoreless. Hill would do just that, forcing a groundout and two strikeouts to escape a jam.
The Spartans would score a run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by senior second baseman Dan Durkin, but Hill was once again able to limit the damage by getting Byars to pop out with a runner on first. The junior right hander would finish his two innings of work allowing just the one earned and maintaining the lead for Maryland.
Sophomore Andrew Miller and junior Ryan Selmer would work the eighth and ninth innings respectively to secure a victory for the Terps.
The Spartans had a few run scoring opportunities, but whenever they did, the Terrapin pitching staff was able to strand nine Michigan State runners on base.
The victory gives the Terps the series win and they will look to go for the sweep when Game 2 of the doubleheader begins at 1:15 p.m.
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