After losing three straight Big Ten series, the Maryland Terrapins (24-15, 5-8) headed into Friday night desperate for a bounce-back matchup against the top-seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers (24-11, 7-3).

The Terps knew this would be no easy task while facing Brett Sears, the Big Ten’s leader in ERA (1.32), WHIP (0.60), and batting average against (.142). Getting out to an early lead would go a long way in knocking off one of the nation’s best pitchers.

On the other side of the ball, Logan Koester made his first Friday night start of the year after Kenny Lippman was moved back to a bullpen role.

When talking about the decision to rearrange the rotation, pitching coach Jimmy Jackson said it was based on Lippman’s strengths in the pen rather than his struggles in the rotation.

“We just needed some more guys in the bullpen with strikeout stuff,” Jackson said. “It wasn’t necessarily anything that Kenny didn’t do, it was more so what he’s capable of doing, … what our team needs right now.”

After finding himself in some early trouble, Koester was able to escape with inning-ending double plays in both the first and second innings. 

It took until the third inning for the Terps offense to finally get going, but it did in a major way.

Chris Hacopian led the third off with his team-leading ninth home run  — notably only the fourth that Sears had allowed all year.

The Cornhuskers bounced right back, as Josh Overbeek crushed a leadoff home run to immediately tie the score. After a walk and a single put runners on the corners with no outs, Koester balked home the go-ahead run for Nebraska.

The Terps bats stayed hot in the fourth, scoring a pair of runs to retake a 3-2 lead thanks to a Jacob Orr single and Michael Iannazzo double. 

Although Koester was able to work out of several jams in the first three innings, he was unable to do so in the fourth. Ben Columbus crushed a solo shot to right to tie the score yet again, but this time, the Cornhuskers continued to add on. After six of the next seven batters reached safely, including RBI doubles from Cayden Brumbaugh and Cole Evans, Nebraska took a 6-3 lead.

After nine runs were scored between the two teams in the first four innings, both pitching staffs locked back in. Sears returned to his usual self, ending the night after seven innings, striking out eight and walking just two. This was Sears’ ninth quality start of the season, adding to his Big Ten lead.

Koester’s day did not last as long — he was pulled after the fourth after allowing six earned runs on nine hits. Trystan Sarcone and Andrew Johnson took the ball in relief, both going two innings and having effective outings.

On the bright side, this was Sarcone’s first appearance since April 3 vs UMBC, in which he was pulled after facing just two batters with an elbow injury.

After getting out to a hot start, scoring three runs in two innings, the Terps were shut out the rest of the way, recording just two hits after the fourth inning. Maryland started a miniature rally in the sixth, but it was quickly shot down when Kevin Keister was picked off second base.

Head coach Matt Swope said that in order to beat a team as talented as Nebraska, the Terps cannot afford to make those small, careless mistakes, especially late in games.

“I think that was kind of our last chance to punch back,” Swope said. “It’s going to be these little tiny details … that put the team on top.”

Jalen Worthley finished the game out for Nebraska, retiring all six Terps he faced, picking up his third save of the season and securing a 6-3 win for the Cornhuskers.

The Terps will look to bounce back and even the series tomorrow, with first pitch set for 3:02 p.m.