The Maryland baseball team knew the stakes were high for its series against Michigan State this weekend.
After losing their series to Rutgers at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium last weekend, the Terps knew they needed to win their series against the Spartans in East Lansing to put themselves in position to make the eight-team Big Ten Tournament.
Maryland accomplished its goal. The Terps won two of three contests against Michigan State with a combination of clutch hitting and strong pitching to clinch the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament.
“This was a playoff series for us,” said first baseman Kevin Biondic, who went 3-for-4 from the plate in Maryland’s 6-4 win Saturday. “This kind of gives the young guys a little taste about what the playoffs are like. You’re going to have go through the best guys and the best arms out of their pen. Every out, every little play matters.”
Thursday, right-hander Mike Shawaryn threw his second career complete game and the offense scored a combined six runs in the fifth and sixth innings as Maryland won, 6-3.
Illinois, who Maryland (28-25, 13-11 Big Ten) was competing against for the final spot in the conference tournament, fell to Michigan on Thursday night, so the Terps needed to win one of their final two contests against the Spartans to clinch a spot in the tournament.
They weren’t able to do that Friday, though, falling, 4-3, to the Spartans in the 13th inning. The Terps committed four errors to keep Michigan State (34-18, 13-11) in the game, and Maryland recorded just one hit in extra innings as Spartans center fielder Brandon Hughes scored the walk-off run with catcher Matt Byars’ sacrifice fly.
Maryland needed either a win or an Illinois loss Saturday to clinch a spot, and coach John Szefc’s squad wanted to control its own destiny.
The Terps faced a 4-3 deficit entering the seventh inning of the series finale, but after managing to stay close to Michigan State, they broke through to score three runs in the frame as Biondic’s two-RBI single pushed them ahead. Right-handers Brian Shaffer and Ryan Selmer didn’t allow a run in the final five innings to punch Maryland’s ticket to the Big Ten Tournament.
Shaffer struggled early on, however, as Hughes sent the fourth pitch of the game into Shaffer’s right knee. The sophomore said his knee felt weak for the first four innings, and Shaffer continued to think about it until the end of the fifth.
Szefc said Saturday was one of the hurler’s best performances this season as he recovered to hold the Spartans to four runs in eight innings.
“I took a stride and my knee buckled,” Shaffer said. “For a second I thought, ‘Oh no.’ It just had to loosen back up. It went away on its own after a while.”
Shaffer is one of the 12 Terps who have experience playing in the postseason. Szefc said Maryland’s familiarity of playing in Super Regionals the past two seasons will make his squad a threat in the postseason, no matter who it’s playing.
Maryland’s goal at the start of the season was to qualify for the program’s first ever College World Series. By winning Saturday, the Terps will begin that quest next week in the Big Ten Tournament.
“We have a good history in the postseason,” Szefc said. “If I was one of those other teams, I probably would rather play somebody else. I believe in our guys. [Saturday] was a big grow-up day for some of our first year guys.”
