Twenty-five minutes after Maryland baseball dropped its seventh midweek contest of the year, first baseman and reliever Kevin Biondic sat in the dugout by himself with his bat placed next to him.
Like much of the lineup, that bat stayed hitless while the Terps’ pitching staff struggled with command in a 14-3 loss to VCU on Tuesday.
Before the season, left fielder Marty Costes said his goal was to win at least 30 games and host an NCAA Regional. At 16-20 with five Big Ten series left and a handful of midweek contests, the Terps aren’t on track for that mark. They’ve lost three straight and are dealing with several injuries to an already shaky pitching staff.
“Winning our conference is our best chance to keep playing baseball for a while with this group,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “We haven’t quite been steady enough down the stretch here. So, our best chance to play in the postseason is really do well in conference.”
Needing a shutdown inning after right fielder Randy Bednar smacked a two-run home run in the second, Vaughn brought in relief pitcher Sean Fisher hoping the southpaw could keep the Terps’ deficit at 4-2.
Instead, the freshman hit a batter and walked two to load the bases before serving up a two-run single to VCU center fielder Haiden Lamb.
Fisher followed starter Alec Tuohy’s four runs in two innings with three in 1 ⅔ frames. Four other pitchers entered, with each of them allowing at least one walk. The Terps issued 11 free passes overall.
“It’s kind of been what our season’s been thus far,” Vaughn said. “We just aren’t playing clean baseball. We’re not responding to adversity very well. And that starts at the top, it starts with us. We haven’t prepared these guys to handle some of the stuff that’s being thrown at them.”
After winning its season-opening series against Tennessee, Maryland looked on track to build off its 2017 campaign despite a head coaching change. In Maryland’s 2-0 victory over VCU on Feb. 28, relievers only allowed one hit in the final five innings. Right-hander Mark DiLuia lasted four frames, surrendering four hits and one walk while striking out seven.
On Tuesday, however, VCU (24-13) burst out of the gate with nine runs in the first five innings.
In the first, the Rams capitalized on an error by Terps shortstop AJ Lee, as designated hitter Mitchel Lacey blooped an RBI single off Tuohy.
Tuohy, who started 22 games at Buffalo before joining Maryland as a graduate transfer, was in consideration for the midweek job before the season. DiLuia earned the spot but had his regularly slated start pushed back to the weekend due to rotation injuries, giving Tuohy an opportunity.
“I’ve got so much confidence in our pitchers, and they prove it throughout the year,” Costes said. “They’re a group of guys that have had their backs against the walls so many times and proved for us that they can do what they can do.”
None of Maryland’s six pitchers used Tuesday have ERA’s below 5.94.
Bednar’s fourth longball of the season cut the Terps’ deficit to 4-2 in the second, but Lamb’s two-run single off Fisher restored the Rams’ four-run edge. Costes hit a solo shot in the third.
With three free passes in 1 ⅔ innings, Fisher has now allowed 14 walks in 19 frames this year. His ERA is up to 7.11. But even after Vaughn replaced him with right-hander Mike Vasturia, little changed for the Terps.
VCU first baseman Steven Carpenter hit an RBI double in the fourth, and two walks from Vasturia set up left fielder Hogan Brown’s two-run single in the fifth.
The Rams piled on five more runs late as Maryland burned through five bullpen arms in the loss.
“The coach just says, ‘Lay off the results,'” left-hander Billy Phillips said. “Things aren’t going our way. That’s baseball.”
