Maryland entered Sunday’s rubber match against Nebraska seeking to win its first weekend series of the season. However, that hope quickly dissipated. 

The Cornhuskers used an offensive explosion to leave College Park with an emphatic victory in the series finale. The Dirty Terps fell to the Cornhuskers, 21-5, as the game was called in the seventh inning due to the Big Ten’s run rule. 

It’s the most runs Maryland has given up in a game since surrendering 21 to then-No. 1 Wake Forest in the 2023 Winston-Salem Regional, although that game went a full nine innings. 

“There’s not much to say,” said head coach Matt Swope. “That wasn’t really a baseball game.”

The Cornhuskers (21-23, 9-12 Big Ten) set the tone from the jump. They scored six runs in the first inning, highlighted by a grand slam by left fielder Gabe Swansen. The senior ended his day with four hits, one walk, and seven RBIs — an output that counted for one-third of his team’s total runs scored.

Swansen’s slam also chased Terps (20-25, 6-15 Big Ten) starter Andrew Johnson after four batters. He walked the first three Cornhuskers he faced before giving up the afternoon’s tone-setting dinger.

The Terps’ pitching staff, which has given them woes all season, struggled mightily once again. Swope used six pitchers, none of whom made it through three innings of work. All six surrendered at least one run, with four of them surrendering at least four. 

“Very frustrating,” Swope said regarding the issue of repeated mistakes.

However, the Terps’ offense didn’t give the pitching staff much support. Maryland was held scoreless in six of the seven innings.

The only frame that went right for the Terps was the fourth, which saw them plate five while Jack Wren handed Nebraska its only scoreless inning in 1-2-3 fashion. The Terps’ offensive output was led by Chris Hacopian, who slugged a grand slam to right center. 

Nebraska’s starter, Jackson Brockett, had an impressive outing. He was pulled after five innings of work, despite surrendering only two earned runs. The other three came thanks to two errors from Nebraska’s defense in that fourth inning. 

Exiting the fourth, the Terps had nearly cut Nebraska’s lead in half, 11-5. 

But the bats were quiet from that point on, and the pitching couldn’t keep the Cornhuskers at bay for long either. They recaptured their 11-run lead after plating five runs of their own in the top of the fifth.

Nebraska finished with 19 hits, eight of which were for extra bases. The Cornhuskers also drew nine walks. 

It was another disappointing end to the weekend for the Dirty Terps, whose odds of making the Big Ten Tournament continue to dwindle. 

“Just have to stay positive,” Swope said. “You either play good baseball or be in a situation where you’re playing in a good baseball game. We weren’t even in the situation for that to be a competitive game, up and down, all the way through.”

They’ll be back in action on Tuesday, traveling to Virginia to face Georgetown for the third and final time this season.