After each of his home starts, Maryland baseball left-hander Tyler Blohm emphasized the significance of pitching at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. Pitching in College Park, he said, made a difference.
Blohm excelled in his first two home starts, tossing six and seven innings against Bryant and Princeton, respectively. The Terps also found success on their home field, winning 10 straight games entering Sunday after playing their first nine contests on the road. The streak included home victories over Michigan on Friday and Saturday in their first Big Ten series of the season.
But Sunday, Blohm’s sequence of effective outings ended in Maryland’s 6-2 loss to the Wolverines in the finale of the three-game set.
“He was getting behind hitters,” coach John Szefc said. “He wasn’t ahead of enough hitters. … It’s not like he’s not trying. He lost his feel for the strike zone.”
Right-handers Brian Shaffer and Taylor Bloom and the Terps bullpen limited Michigan’s production in the first two games, preventing the opposing offense from plating more than two runs in any frame. On Sunday, though, the Wolverines took control of the game after a three-run fourth inning.
After Blohm reached three-ball counts on consecutive batters to load the bases with no outs, Szefc called upon right-hander Jared Price. Blohm’s first career Big Ten start ended after 55 pitches. He allowed three hits and two walks and struck out two batters in his second loss of the season.
“We gave up a lot fewer freebies,” Szefc said of the difference between Sunday’s contest and the first two against Michigan. “A good team is able to capitalize. It could have been a lot worse based on the number of freebies we gave them.”
While the Wolverines took advantage of their opportunities, the Terps gave Blohm a lead before he took the mound for the first time. Right fielder Marty Costes’ single up the middle in the first inning scored second baseman Nick Dunn. It was one of Costes’ two hits on the afternoon and one of five in the series.
The hit wasn’t enough to support Blohm, though. It was one of Maryland’s two runs against Wolverines left-hander Michael Hendrickson, who allowed five hits and struck out four over five innings.
“[Hendrickson] commanded his off-speed well,” Costes said. “… I’m just executing my plan. I’m taking my hacks. I don’t have a secret formula to it.”
With the Terps already trailing, left-hander Tayler Stiles and right-hander Jamal Wade each allowed a run in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively. Michigan’s bullpen, meanwhile, allowed two hits over the final four innings, halting Maryland’s 10-game home winning streak to start the season.
“A 6-2 loss, based on how that game goes, could have been a lot worse,” Szefc said Sunday. “You walk away from today with a little bit of a sour taste in your mouth. I don’t think we were the same group that we were the first two days. Our goal is to win conference series, and that’s what we did.”
