Jake Drossner
Jake Drossner trotted to the mound Sunday for the first weekend start of his Terrapins baseball career. Coach John Szefc has been searching for a reliable third weekend starter all season, and the sophomore left-hander was the fifth pitcher to start a series finale.
And with a series victory hanging in the balance — the Terps split the first two games against Virginia Tech — Drossner held the Hokies to one run in four innings. And though the bullpen allowed five runs in the sixth and seventh in a 6-4 loss, the Terps will continue to try to stabilize their rotation moving forward, starting with today’s game against Towson in Aberdeen.
The Terps have won one of six ACC series this season, and three of those five conference series losses have been sealed on Sundays. Midweek games, such as today’s, provide a chance for pitchers to audition for a weekend starting role.
“We just got to know we have four more ACC series we need to take care of business in,” first baseman LaMonte Wade said. “We still control our destiny, and we just got to come out and play harder and have a sense of urgency more and things will starting turning around for us.”
Drossner entered Sunday’s game with a 2.03 ERA in six appearances (five starts), and he excelled against nonconference opponents in midweek games. He started and pitched five innings of an 11-0 win over George Mason on April 8.
While Drossner allowed eight hits and two walks Sunday, he used inning-ending double plays to get out of bases-loaded jams in the first and fourth innings.
“I think he did OK,” Szefc said. “His pitch count was pretty high, so he wasn’t able to go too deep into the game. He kind of got us off to a decent start. … The early part of the game wasn’t really our problem.”
Right-hander Jared Price started the season as the Sunday starter, but he was dropped from the rotation after a 7-0 loss to then-No. 2 Florida State on March 9, the Terps’ first ACC series.
Price made four starts and allowed 15 runs (12 earned) in 16.2 innings. He transitioned to a relief role after the loss to the Seminoles and has pitched 4.2 innings in seven appearances out of the bullpen.
Right-hander Kevin Mooney and left-handers Tayler Stiles and Zach Morris each took one turn as the Terps’ Sunday starter. None of them lasted more than 4.1 innings in their respective starts.
Short Sunday starts constantly tax the bullpen, too. Four Terps in total pitched Friday or Saturday this weekend, but Szefc used four relievers Sunday. In ACC play, the Terps have used four or more pitchers in every Sunday start.
Against Wake Forest on April 6 and N.C. State on March 23, though, the Terps overcame those short starts with dominant offensive performances and solid relief appearances to earn wins.
But every time the Terps have split the first two games of a series, they’ve lost Sunday’s game. Stumbles to Florida State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech have resulted in series losses.
Still, the Terps have already passed the toughest part of their conference schedule, and they hold a one-game advantage over the Wolfpack in the battle for the final ACC tournament spot.
So the Terps are still in position to make a postseason run, but an effective third starter who could close series victories would provide a significant boost to their aspirations down the stretch.
“All the opponents in this conference are tough,” Szefc said. “What I will say is, you get in this game what you deserve. If we’re going to be a team that deserves to win the series, we have to learn that, and we really haven’t been able to do that. That’s why right now we are a 1-2 team on the weekend.”
