While it seemed through the first two innings that sophomore right-handed pitcher Lance Williams was off to his best start of his young Maryland career, things took a turn in the third. 

As Williams stood on the mound one strikeout away from his single game career-high, he faced senior center fielder Aaron Piasecki. After a couple of mistakes by Maryland put runners on second and third, Piasecki launched a long flyball over the 30-foot wall in right field for a three-run home run.

The homer gave the Trojans the lead, which they would keep for the remainder of the game as Maryland couldn’t seem to capitalize on its scoring opportunities. The Terps (8-5) left 10 runners stranded on base as they fell to the Trojans (6-7) 5-2. 

Williams had the juice flowing early, recording five strikeouts within the first two innings. It was not the same case for the Terps’ bats, however. Through the first three innings, the Terps only reached base twice on two singles from freshman shortstop Ty Kaunas and sophomore third baseman Jackson Sirois. 

Williams kept it going to begin the bottom of the third, striking out the leadoff hitter. The strikeout marked his sixth of the game, tying his career high after only facing nine batters. 

Things quickly went awry for the sophomore after that strikeout, though. 

A hit by pitch followed by a throwing error by Sirois put runners on first and second, which set up a three-run home run from Piasecki. Williams was able to rebound quickly, recording his seventh and eighth strikeouts of the night to end the inning.

Maryland gave itself a good opportunity to respond in the fourth after Paul Jones II and Kaunas singled and Rylen Stockton was hit by a pitch, but they would strand the bases loaded.

Williams returned to the mound in the bottom of the fourth. He started the inning by hitting his second batter of the game and allowed him to reach second after a sacrifice bunt. The Trojans were able to tack on another run to stretch their lead to four after an RBI single from junior right fielder Zaid Diaz allowed senior second baseman Sean Darnell to score.

The Terps continued to struggle to score with runners on base, but they got their first go-around with the Troy Bullpen in the sixth inning.

Troy’s senior right-handed ace finished his night with five scoreless innings and seven strikeouts, while surrendering five hits and one walk.

Junior righty Cooper Ellington, who took the mound in relief for Troy, allowed the Terps to load the bases, but for the second time in the game, Maryland left the bases loaded. 

Williams would last through the sixth inning but would be relieved to begin the seventh. The East Carolina transfer would end his day giving up four runs on five hits and one walk but he would finish with a career-high 10 strikeouts. His 10 strikeouts beat his previous high of six he posted in his Maryland debut in the first game of the season.

Head coach Matt Swope gave the ball to sophomore righty Cristofer Cespedes to start the seventh. Cespedes put himself in a jam in the inning after walking two and hitting a batter, but just like Landon Edwards had been repeatedly doing before him, he managed to get out of it.

The Dirty Terps went down in order in the top of the eight and surrendered a fifth run to the Trojans in the bottom of the inning. Junior left-hander Joseph Fredericks took the mound for the eighth and gave up an RBI single to sophomore shortstop Nolan Book after previously putting two runners on base by a single and a walk. Maryland trailed 5-0 as they entered the ninth down to its last three outs. 

It was too little too late for the Terps. David Mendez was able to put Maryland on the board with a two RBI double after driving home Jordan Crosland and Brayden Martin who both reached via walk. That was all the scoring the Terps would be able to muster though as a Ryan Costello groundout would finish Game 1 of the weekend series. 

Game 2 of Maryland’s series against Troy is set for Saturday at 4:30 P.M. Tune into MBN where Daniel Stein will have the call.