RICHMOND, VA. — Knowing Maryland baseball has trouble scoring runs, coach Rob Vaughn waved first baseman Kevin Biondic home on right fielder Randy Bednar’s sixth-inning double Tuesday against Richmond.
Spiders shortstop Vinny Capra’s relay throw caught Biondic at the plate, ending the inning and preventing the Terps from tying the game.
In the bottom-half of the sixth, Maryland’s pitchers imploded, and the Terps’ one-run deficit turned into a seven-run hole as another midweek game slipped out of their reach.
With the 10-3 loss to the Spiders on Tuesday, Maryland has allowed 50 runs in its seven midweek games and is 2-5 in those contests.
“Last year we got away with it because we were a little bit hotter offensively,” center fielder Zach Jancarski said. “With the way we work this year, we’re really good when we get ahead and kind of vice versa the other way.”
After two standout pitching performances from Maryland (12-13) starters this weekend allowed the Terps to win a series against Stetson, Vaughn questioned how his team would react if things didn’t go so smoothly. In a six-run sixth Tuesday, the Terps’ bullpen couldn’t minimize damage to keep the team in the game.
Maryland starter Mark DiLuia (1-2, 8.04 ERA) struggled through six innings in a 13-1 loss to North Carolina last week and went just three frames against Richmond, allowing a two-run homer to left fielder DJ Lee in the first inning.
“We had plenty of pitching for today as for the way it lined up, so we weren’t worried about getting length out of [DiLuia],” Vaughn said. “It was more important to get him good, quality innings and … turn it over to the bullpen. Unfortunately, that just didn’t kind of go as planned.”
Solo homers from Biondic and center fielder Zach Jancarski in the second and fourth innings tied the game at 2-2, but Maryland managed just one more run after that as the Spiders piled on.
After both Jancarski and Biondic’s longballs, Richmond starter Lowell Schipper (0-0, 4.98) walked two Terps. Maryland stranded all four of those runners, however, continuing its struggles with runners on base, a trend that led to the Terps dropping five of their six matchups in a road trip earlier this month.
“That’s been kind of our inconsistency,” Vaughn said. “When we’re winning games, we’re doing stuff where we’re picking those runners up. When we’re losing games right now, we’re not. And I think that kind of think that stems from our approach not being very consistent.”
Strong starts from Maryland left-hander Tyler Blohm and right-hander Hunter Parsons led the Terps to a series victory over Stetson despite the Terps’ bats continuing to sputter, but Maryland’s midweek pitching lags behind its weekend arms, exposing the Terps’ inconsistent lineup.
Three Maryland relievers combined to allow six runs in the sixth, and designated hitter Tyler Plantier hit a solo homer off right-hander John Murphy in the seventh to establish a seven-run lead for Richmond (15-9).
Last season, the Terps struggled in midweek contests yet still went 8-3 as their offense covered for shaky pitching.
The pitching issues have continued into this season, with Maryland allowing at least 10 runs in three of its first seven midweek games, but the Terps’ lineup hasn’t been able to power its way to wins, leading to results like Tuesday’s blowout loss to the Spiders.
“Our starting pitching ERA at one point last year was an 18.18 in the midweek,” Vaughn said. “What we’ve got to get better at is showing some toughness when we do get behind and … not letting things get too tight or trying to do something too special in those situations.”
