After a dominant pitching performance on Tuesday versus Delaware, Maryland Baseball (10-4) was hoping to continue its defensive prowess while simultaneously finishing their scoring opportunities, which they struggled with against the Blue Hens. 

The team hit the road for their first series in a two week road trip, starting with the Charlotte 49ers. In game one, the Terps struggled mightily on both ends, as they were defeated 9-5.

The Terps marched out their typical Friday starter, veteran Kenny Lippman, hoping for his usual, smooth five inning performance. He wouldn’t even last an inning. 

The graduate student would walk four batters and hit another, giving up three runs while only recording one out. 

Head coach Matt Swope decided to pull the plug early, as Lippman, who is usually precise, could just not find the zone. 

Swope called upon Trystan Sarcone, a Dartmouth transfer, to come in and get the Terps out of the early jam they found themselves in. Sarcone was able to get them out of the first inning and shut the 49ers down in the second inning, but then gave up four additional runs in the third inning, which included two home runs. 

The 49ers would score two more runs in the fourth inning. From there, the Terps pitching staff found its rhythm, not allowing another score for the final five innings. 

Unfortunately, the offense wasn’t able to muster much of anything outside of one inning, the sixth. The Terps drew three walks, then Elijah Lambros doubled down the third baseline, getting the Terps on the board with two runs. Immediately after, Jordan Crosland, who was in the lineup as the DH, hit a no doubter to left field, bringing three more runs across. 

Outside of the sixth inning, the Terps were completely shut down by Charlotte. They recorded just five hits and struck out a whopping 18 times. Every single player struck out at least once. 

It was an ugly effort from the Terps in the series opener. The squad will hope to put the poor loss behind them and play from behind to try to win the series. With close to two inches of rain slated to hit Charlotte on Saturday, the teams have agreed to play a doubleheader on Sunday. Game two will be at noon and game three will be at four.