The Terrapins baseball team had allowed just six home runs all season leading up to Tuesday.
The lone time the Terps gave up more than one home run in a game was last week against Delaware, when the Blue Hens hit two long balls. But when the Terps played Delaware again Tuesday, the Blue Hens belted five pitches — all from different players — over the Harford Community College field’s fence.
The Blue Hens’ offensive power overcame the Terps pitching staff, as they downed the Terps, 10-8 in coach John Szefc’s squad’s second straight loss.
“We let them score in seven out of the first eight innings, which basically gives you no chance to win,” Szefc said. “That’s really the tale of the tape. If you can’t keep them from scoring, you don’t have much of a chance. We put ourselves in a really bad hole.”
Freshman right-hander Cameron Enck, who made his first career start, surrendered the first five runs of the contest — three of which came off a three-run home run — before the Terps bullpen allowed the other four long balls.
The Terps (5-6) held a 3-2 lead entering the third inning with the help of second baseman Nick Dunn’s two RBIs.
But then Delaware’s home-run barrage began. Catcher Brian Mayer’s three-run home run forced Enck out of the game, and then right-hander Mike Rescigno was taken deep twice in 1.1 innings.
Right-hander Andrew Green replaced Rescigno in the fifth inning, and he allowed two more solo home runs over two innings.
Trailing 10-5 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, the Terps put together three runs. But left-hander Colman Vila came on to strike out right fielder Madison Nickens with the tying runner on first to seal the victory.
“We definitely showed some grit,” designated hitter Dan Maynard said. “It shows how tough we are as a group. Next time, we’ll come up with a win.”
Last week in a loss to Delaware (7-4), Szefc’s team surrendered 12 runs with four freshmen pitching. This time, young and experienced players alike couldn’t find a solution to the Blue Hens’ lineup as it scored in all but two innings.
While the pitching staff couldn’t keep Delaware off the board Tuesday, the Terps offense matched Delaware with nine hits and walked a season-high 10 times. Every player in the lineup reached base.
But after stranding a season-high 14 runners on base in a 4-3 loss to East Carolina on Sunday, the Terps continued to struggle driving runners in Tuesday. They left 12 runners on base and went 1-for-11 (.091) with runners in scoring position.
First baseman Kevin Biondic said Delaware’s pitchers kept the Terps off guard by mixing their fastballs and off-speed pitches. Maynard said the Blue Hens threw a lot of breaking balls after the first few innings, and the Terps struggled to capitalize on them.
“Offensively, we’ve competed pretty good,” Szefc said. “We’ve really struggled on the mound and defensively.”
Szefc has used the first two midweek games to give freshmen experience, as five newcomers were in the lineup Tuesday, compared with the usual two. Szefc said he wants to see which players step up when they’re given an opportunity.
Plus, Szefc has sent rookies out against Delaware both times. Each time they’ve struggled, though, as the Blue Hens put up double-digit runs in both contests. The fourth-year coach said he’ll continue to give inexperienced pitchers opportunities in midweek games to see who performs the best.
But after being swept in their season series against the Blue Hens, the Terps will look to bounce back Wednesday against George Washington behind another freshman, right-hander John Murphy.
“It’s a tough one,” Biondic said. “We’re going to come out tomorrow ready to play and take the same approach as always. We’re going to get a good ‘W’ tomorrow.”
