Maryland baseball right fielder Randy Bednar’s leaping grab over the wall in the third inning not only robbed Indiana of a home run and kept the game scoreless, but it ignited his team.
Just minutes after Bednar’s catch, the Terps finally broke through after center fielder Chris Alleyne gave Maryland its first hit with a leadoff triple and was brought home by third baseman Taylor Wright’s squeeze bunt.
Alleyne scored again in the bottom of the sixth to double the advantage, but the initial run was all Terps starter Hunter Parsons needed. He hurled eight shutout innings before giving way to closer John Murphy, who polished off the senior’s stellar outing.
Led by Parsons’ dominant effort and Alleyne’s pair of runs, Maryland (13-11, 1-0 Big Ten) opened up conference play with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Indiana (15-10, 3-1 Big Ten).
“To me, that was a heavyweight match,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “That’s what Friday nights are supposed to look like. You’re gonna get bruised and bloodied a little bit, but Hunter didn’t blink.”
Much like its previous game against Creighton, Maryland found itself in a pitching duel.
Both Parsons and Indiana’s Pauly Milto battled throughout the contest, aided by stellar plays from their defenses. After just a few innings, it became clear that a single run might be the difference maker. Though Parsons was dealing early, the Hoosiers wouldn’t go down quietly.
Parsons lost his perfect game in the fifth after a leadoff walk, and his no-hit bid was ended on a single later in the inning. Indiana was able to put two men on with just one out, but a lineout and a flyout ended the Hoosiers’ threat.
While Parsons wasn’t racking up strikeouts at the same rate he’s done in two 10-strikeout efforts this season, he used his pitches effectively and was able to force Indiana into timely groundouts and flyouts to get out of several jams.
“Early in the game I was kind of scuffling,” Parsons said. “Randy goes up and makes that play and it was like a reality check. If the defense behind me is doing that, I need to lock in.”
With a chance to extend the Terps’ lead in the bottom half of the inning, shortstop AJ Lee was cut down at home after catcher Justin Vought’s liner was bobbled into center field.
Maryland was able to load the bases in the sixth inning, but a sacrifice fly by left fielder Caleb Walls was all the Terps could muster.
With his lead now doubled, Parsons showed no signs of slowing down and continued to shut down the Hoosiers in the later innings. The Terps starter was pulled after the eighth inning, where he struck out two batters to cap his day with five strikeouts.
Maryland turned to Murphy in the ninth inning, and despite allowing a leadoff walk, the senior closer forced a groundout and struck out the final two Hoosiers to secure the Terps’ first conference win of the year.
With conference play now in full-swing, Maryland is looking to move past its uninspiring nonconference performance and start fresh.
“It’s a new season,” Alleyne said. “[It was] time to re-establish ourselves.”
