As the Maryland baseball team’s starting pitchers faltered in the late innings in the series at Minnesota this weekend, the pressure was on the bullpen to close out narrow leads.
Friday, right-hander Taylor Bloom threw five scoreless innings before giving up two runs in the sixth. After he exited, the bullpen gave up seven more runs in a 9-5 defeat.
Two days later — after right-hander Brian Shaffer led the Terps to a win Saturday — right-hander Mike Shawaryn tossed six scoreless innings. But in the seventh, he gave up three runs, and the bullpen allowed three more the next inning in Maryland’s 6-4 defeat.
The Terps’ weekend rotation entered this series trying to prove it was one of the best pitching staffs in the country. Though all three of them left the game with a lead, the bullpen didn’t offer support Friday and Sunday, as the Terps dropped the three-game set, 2-1.
“We were very up and down,” coach John Szefc said. “Minnesota is very good. They might be one of the best teams we’ve played all year, if not the best. Our starting pitching was pretty solid. It was a little short behind them.”
Bloom entered Friday with the third-best ERA of starting pitchers in the Big Ten. He looked like his usual self early as the Terps took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth. But then Bloom allowed two runs in the frame to allow Minnesota to pull within one.
And in the eighth, four relievers combined to give up seven runs as the Golden Gophers (21-11, 6-2 Big Ten) blew the contest open.
Maryland (19-17, 5-4) relied on its bullpen the least Saturday as Shaffer allowed just two runs over eight innings. Right-hander Mike Rescigno came on in the ninth to earn his third save of the year.
But Maryland didn’t have that same luxury Sunday as Shawaryn struggled in the seventh. Szefc turned to right-hander Hunter Parsons and left-hander Tayler Stiles, two usual midweek starters, in the eighth Sunday with no midweek games this week. They combined to allow three runs.
“We trust our guys at the end of the game,” said first baseman Kevin Biondic, who went 5-for-10 at the plate this weekend. “That’s why they’re playing for Maryland baseball, because they’re good. We always tell them, ‘We’ll make the play for you.'”
The defense failed to make a crucial play Sunday, though.
With one out and the Terps leading by one in the eighth, shortstop Kevin Smith couldn’t control third baseman Micah Coffey’s hit, and the Golden Gophers scored three more runs.
“It’s really, really disappointing,” Szefc said. “We try to take a lot of pride in how we pitch and play defense. If you’re going to give a guy four or five outs an inning, that’s what’s going to happen to you. It’s tough.”
The Terps’ bullpen has struggled this the season, but it seemed to turn a corner last weekend against Ohio State. The relievers didn’t give up a run in the series as the Terps swept the Buckeyes.
In that sweep, it was the offense that came up clutch in the late innings, as the Terps hit walk-off singles in two contests. The script was flipped this weekend, though. Minnesota scored 15 of its 17 runs in the seventh inning or later.
“It was just one of those weekends,” left-hander Robert Galligan said. “That stuff happens. Right now it’s important for us to prepare really well this week, and we’ll be ready to take on Purdue this weekend.”
