Maryland baseball starter Hunter Parsons departed in the sixth inning of his outing against Illinois on Sunday with an apparent right leg injury.
After throwing a pitch midway through the frame, Parsons grabbed the back of his right leg. He exited following a couple of test pitches and was replaced by left-hander Sean Fisher.
Athletic trainer Tyler Cronin got Parsons water — a possible indication of a cramp — but Maryland opted to withdraw the right-hander after 5 ⅔ innings. He surrendered one run and struck out seven.
“His [hamstring] just kind of locked up on him,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “We’re hoping it’s nothing too serious. We think it was just kind of a cramp and we’ll have a lot more information hopefully in the next day or so.”
Parsons struggled in his season-debut against Tennessee, allowing eight runs in one inning. Since then, he’s held down the Terps’ Sunday role, including two complete game showings. He left his Sunday start with a 2.96 ERA.
Parsons showed promise his freshman year, pitching to a 3.50 ERA in 36 innings, mostly as a reliever. He regressed in 2017 as his ERA ballooned to 12.05 but has rebounded with a stellar year to this point.
“It’s always bad to see a guy go down,” shortstop AJ Lee said, “especially when he’s in a groove like he was.”
Vaughn is hopeful Parsons will be available to start next weekend against Michigan as the Terps continue Big Ten play.
“As long as he’s good this week and we have him healthy in Ann Arbor next weekend, we’ll be OK,” Vaughn said. “It’s obviously not ideal. … Our big thing is just making sure he’s good moving forward.”
