Left-hander Tyler Blohm looked at the ball and seemed to call his teammates off but didn’t get there in time. First baseman Brandon Gum came charging toward the mound. Third baseman AJ Lee didn’t move much. The ball landed a few feet in front of the plate for an infield single.
The sequence came in the third inning, when second baseman Cole Freeman hit what appeared to be a routine popup on the left side of the infield. The lack of communication allowed Freeman to reach base, which sparked yet another explosive offensive frame for No. 3 LSU (7-1) in their 9-5 win over Maryland on Sunday. The series sweep ensured Maryland’s worst six-game start since 2010.
“You try to take out some positives,” coach John Szefc said. “Our bullpen was pretty good the last four innings. Offensively, we had a lot of guys who had good weekends as far as at-bats. I’ll leave it at that.”
Lee made an error on a hard-hit ground ball in the third that prolonged the five-run inning. Blohm, after leading the Terps (1-5) to their first win of the season in his debut last Sunday, couldn’t escape the frame. He departed after 2.1 innings and allowed five runs, two of which were earned, walked four and struck out two. The defense failed to make seemingly routine plays, and right-hander Ryan Selmer hit a batter and allowed a pair of RBI hits before the inning concluded.
“I’ve seen these guys in the fall and then in the preseason and they’re really good,” center fielder Zach Jancarski said of the pitching staff. “That’s the best way I can put it. Maybe it didn’t go as well as they would have liked to start the season. We have a very good staff as far as starters and relievers. I’m not too worried about it. Like hitters, pitchers can get into a little bit of a rut too.”
Maryland’s mistakes, though, came after it scored three runs in the first inning. Jancarski crushed a 2-2 pitch over the left field wall to open the game, while designated hitter Will Watson added a two-out, two-run home run to increase Maryland’s lead.
The first-inning run total was more than the Terps had scored in the first and second games of the series combined, but the lead was short-lived.
LSU had a commanding 9-3 lead through four innings, and though Tigers right-hander Eric Walker lasted just those four, the bullpen maintained the advantage.
With the Terps trailing, 9-5, in the eighth inning, right fielder Marty Costes represented what would be Maryland’s final opportunity to tie the game. But with the bases loaded and two outs, he grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat. Maryland couldn’t find much success facing a top-10 team for the first time in 2017.
“There were some good things, it was a good experience,” Costes said. “Our pitching staff, from what I’ve seen, those guys have a lot of nasty pitches. It’s all about getting ahead of hitters in this game.”
