Michigan State catcher Adam Proctor flung his hands up in frustration as his throw to second scooted away from Justin Antoncic. It seemed the Spartans were going to catch Maryland baseball designated hitter Will Watson stealing, but when Antoncic dropped the ball, it allowed first baseman Kevin Biondic to run home.
If Antoncic handled the throw cleanly, the Spartans may have escaped the sixth-inning jam without any damage. But facing a Terps lineup that’s struggled nearly the entire year, teams can afford to make mistakes.
Spartans reliever Jake Lowery had entered in the sixth with nobody out and runners on second on third, protecting a two-run lead.
Biondic scoring on the error was Maryland’s only run of the inning. Maryland’s 4-2 loss Friday keeps it in 11th place in the conference, a surprising Big Ten bottomfeeder, given the litany of proven batters the team features.
After Biondic’s double put runners in scoring position with no outs, designated hitter Will Watson, who entered the game having reached base in 12 of his last 18 tries, came to the plate. Watson has seemingly taken hold of a place in the lineup after hitting 5-for-11 during the Purdue series with left fielder Marty Costes sidelined via a suspension.
But Watson laid down a first-pitch bunt, Lowery flipped the ball with his glove to Proctor, and he tagged Costes out at the plate. Center fielder Zach Jancarski popped out and third baseman Taylor Wright struck out following the error that brought home Biondic.
The team hoped its 10-hit, six-run performance to beat James Madison on Wednesday would carry into the weekend series. Instead, the Terps managed just three hits and required an error to score a run in the sixth despite three upperclassmen coming to the plate in Maryland’s best chance to cut into the two-run deficit.
Entering the contest trailing Michigan State (16-21, 7-5 Big Ten) by three games in the conference standings, Maryland (17-24, 3-9) missed another key opportunity to make up ground for the second consecutive weekend. With two games left in the series, the Terps will look to salvage their first series win since facing Northwestern at the end of March.
Starter Mark DiLuia, filling in for right-hander Taylor Bloom (concussion) for the second straight Friday, went 6 2/3 innings and allowed three earned runs. His off-speed pitches didn’t have the same effectiveness as they did against Purdue last week, but DiLuia (1-4, 5.68 ERA) still gave the Terps a chance to be in the contest.
After Wright put the Terps up 1-0 with an RBI single in the second, the Spartans leveled the matchup in the bottom-half of the frame. Another RBI single in the third gave them a 2-1 advantage.
In the fourth, Michigan State center fielder Danny Gleaves dropped his bat and prepared to walk to first following a walk, but catcher Justin Vought threw down to second, seemingly forgetting that the free pass nullified right fielder Marty Bechina’s steal attempt.
Vought’s throw sailed over the bag and into center field, an error that set up shortstop Kory Young’s RBI groundout to establish a 3-1 Michigan State lead. Left fielder Bryce Kelley’s seventh-inning double pushed Michigan State’s lead to 4-2 after Maryland scored on the Spartans’ error in the sixth.
When right-hander Riley McCauley walked Watson to lead off the ninth, Maryland had another chance with a runner on base. Yet Jancarski and Wright struck out and right fielder Randy Bednar flied out, dooming them to their seventh loss in their last eight games.
