After Maryland baseball shut out Indiana in a 2-0 win Friday, the Hoosiers offense got their revenge in Saturday’s game 2.
Indiana torched the Terps in a 20-5 win, evening the series by dishing Maryland its worst loss since 2011.
Terps starter Zach Thompson entered the game with a 3.63 ERA and no home runs surrendered this season, but he was no match for the Hoosiers’ lineup. Indiana scored four runs in the first and never let up, homering three times and scoring seven runs off Thompson in his three-plus innings.
Indiana, which leads the Big Ten home runs, slugged a staggering nine homers Saturday, the most by any Division I team in a game this season. Half of the Hoosiers’ 18 hits left the yard.
Indiana got three home runs from outfielder Grant Richardson, including a grand slam that put the Hoosiers up 13-1, and two apiece from first baseman Matt Lloyd and designated hitter Scott Bradley.
Thompson was removed after third baseman Taylor Wright bobbled a ground ball to lead off the fourth inning. Maryland’s bullpen — which has struggled all year — fared no better. Relievers Daniel O’Connor and Billy Phillips each gave up five earned runs and recorded a total of four outs.
The Terps’ pitching stabilized somewhat when coach Rob Vaughn put in right hander Mark Diluia in the fifth inning — he and infielder Kody Milton, who pitched the ninth, gave up a combined three earned runs — but by then it was too late.
While Indiana was circling the bases seemingly constantly, the Terps struggled to get anything going on offense. Hoosiers starter Tanner Gordon delivered a seven-inning gem, giving up just three hits and a walk while striking out five.
The sole bright spot against Gordon was a first-inning home run from center fielder Chris Alleyne, who rocked the second pitch he saw to the opposite field to pull Maryland within 4-1.
The Terps were shut out for the next seven frames, while Indiana piled on 15 more runs.
Facing a 19-run deficit in the ninth and with reserves in, Maryland scored four times. But the Hoosiers had already sewn up the win and then some, setting up a rubber match Sunday in the Terps’ first Big Ten series of the season.
