Maryland clinched the series win earlier today in the first game of Saturday’s double header but were not able to complete the sweep in a 10-7 loss to the Nittany Lions in Game 2.

Both offenses put on a hitting clinic in the evening game as the Terps tallied 11 hits and Penn State had 13. The difference in the game came by the walk. Terps pitchers allowed six bases on balls while the Nittany Lions staff only allowed two.

The Terps jumped ahead in the top of the first inning after two straight hits off PSU starter Bailey Dees from AJ Lee and Randy Bednar. Taylor Wright bunted them over to move the runners over to second and third base. Penn State then nabbed Lee at home from a fielder’s choice off the bat of Max Costes. Caleb Walls then lined a single to right field to score Bednar and give Maryland a 1-0 lead.

Penn State tied it up in the bottom of the 1st inning and took the lead in the third which was a huge inning for the Nittany Lions. They scored 5 runs on 5 hits. All of the runs driven in were off Penn State singles from Ryan Ford, Ryan Sloniger, Mac Hippenhammer, and Conlin Hughes.

Terps starter Trevor LaBonte was pulled after the second Penn State run came across but was responsible for the three runners left on base when Drew Wilden came into the game, which he all let score. This ended LaBonte’s day with 2 innings pitched, 5 earned runs, 3 hits, and 3 walks.

In the 4th inning, Justin Vought led off the inning with a hit by pitch, Michael Pineiro singled, and Ben Cowles reached on a throwing error from pitcher Mason Mellott to load the bases.

Chris Alleyne was then hit by a pitch to score a run. The next batter, Lee, grounded a ball to the shortstop who flipped to second base for one out, but second baseman Kremer through it past the first baseman which allowed Lee to be safe at first. Pineiro and Cowles scored on the play to make it 6-4 Nittany Lions.

Penn State tacked on another run in the bottom of the 4th off of a double play from Kremer which scored Jordan Bowersox to make it 7-4.

The Terps pesky offense scratched across two more runs in the 5th off a Pineiro 2 RBI single which was set up by a sacrifice bunt by Vought that moved Wall and Costes to second and third base, respectively. That pulled the score to 7-6.

But Maryland pitching just could not hold these Nittany Lion bats quiet after Sean Fisher came in for Mark DiLuia in the bottom of the 5th inning. Derek Orndorff drove a Fisher delivering to right center field for a 2 RBI double to make it 9-6.

Maryland’s final run came in the sixth off of a Wright single that drove in Lee.

Hippenhammer led the way offensively for the Nittany Lions, going 3 for 5 with a triple and two runs scored. Kyle Virbitsky came into pitch for Penn State in the 7th, going 3 strong innings, allowing 0 runs despite 3 hits and 2 walks.

For the Terps, Pineiro was 3 for 5 with 2 RBI in the loss, which moved Maryland to 22-22 on the season.

Maryland’s next game will be Wednesday, May 1 at Villanova. First pitch will be at 3:30 p.m.