Maryland baseball coach Rob Vaughn admitted he was wary of pitching to Illinois first baseman Bren Spillane, who was named the national midseason player of the year by multiple publications due to his .494 average and 1.149 slugging percentage.
But after Maryland starter Taylor Bloom allowed a leadoff walk and single in the first inning, the Terps couldn’t avoid Spillane. The junior clobbered an RBI double to the left-center field fence, and second baseman Michael Massey followed with a two-run double to right field.
It was everything Vaughn didn’t want to happen.
In game one of Maryland’s Friday doubleheader with Illinois, Bloom’s lack of command led to an early three-run hole that ballooned into a 10-6 defeat. The senior walked a career-high five batters and allowed a career-high 10 runs.
“You’ve got to make the guys around [Spillane] beat you. The problem is, they’ve got some guys around him that can beat you too if you’re not careful,” Vaughn said on Thursday. “We’re just going to have to do a good job not giving up freebies, putting extra guys on base.”
In the third, Bloom struck out Spillane after allowing a leadoff walk, taking care of Illinois’ most daunting threat. He gave free passes to two more batters, one intentional, before designated hitter Michael Michalak’s two-run double put the Illini up, 5-2.
Bloom surrendered five extra-base hits against the Big Ten leader in that category in his five innings. The right-hander stood with his glove on his hip and his jersey held up to his face when center fielder Zac Taylor rounded the bases in the fifth, punctuating a five-run frame with a grand slam.
Bloom (2-6, 5.20 ERA) continued struggles from his last three starts, where he’s allowed a combined 11 runs.
Meanwhile, Illinois starter Andy Fisher surrendered two runs in the first before the Terps’ struggles with runners on base pervaded from Tuesday’s loss to William & Mary. Fisher forced a shallow fly out and strike out with bases loaded, preventing a chance for Maryland to tie the game at three.
It was the closest the Terps would get to levelling the score. Pinch hitter Justin Vought added a two-run homer in the ninth and center fielder Zach Jancarski hit an RBI double, but the Terps couldn’t mount enough against Fisher (3-0, 3.68 ERA) in his career-long eight innings to make the late burst matter.
