In the bottom of the first inning, Penn State leadoff batter Nick Riotto fouled a pair of two-strike pitches from Maryland baseball starting pitcher Taylor Bloom. Then, on Bloom’s sixth pitch of the game, Riotto turned on an inside fastball and lifted it just over the right-field fence.
That was all the scoring the Nittany Lions needed Saturday, as the Terps were shutout in their 2-0 loss.
Bloom, who didn’t pitch last weekend due to an ankle injury, ended up finishing all eight innings, but much of his start wasn’t easy. The sophomore didn’t get a 1-2-3 inning until the sixth inning, scattering nine hits across his eight innings of work.
Maryland’s offense also had its chances. In each of the first three innings, the Terps (23-19 8-6 Big Ten), had runners in scoring position but failed to cash them in.
And in the middle innings, the Terps’ bats went quiet. After a bunt single in the fourth, Maryland didn’t get another hit until catcher Nick Cieri’s two-out double in the eighth.
Senior Anthony Papio followed that with a walk, and the Nittany Lions decided to go to their closer, Jack Anderson, to record a four-out save. Anderson, who entered Saturday with a nation-leading 0.65 ERA, quickly got a strikeout to escape the eighth.
After the Nittany Lions (25-19, 10-7) added an insurance run to extend their lead to 2-0, Anderson returned for the ninth and worked around a one-out single from outfielder Madison Nickens to secure a win and even the series.
Nickens was stranded on second to end the game, bringing Maryland’s line with runners in scoring position to 0-5 on the day. Altogether, the Terps left 12 runners on base.
