Things were unraveling for Maryland Baseball after the first four innings of its series opener against rival Penn State. 

Despite the chance to play spoiler for the Nittany Lions, who entered the match fighting for a spot in the Big Ten tournament, the Terps were fighting an 8-3 deficit due to inconsistent pitching and failure to capitalize on scoring opportunities.

Things only continued to get out of hand. More erratic pitching led to an RBI double from Maddox McDonald, who got Spencer Barnett home. After a fielder’s choice and a walk given up against Davis, Penn State loaded the bases for the first time on the night. Michael Anderson, fresh off setting a Penn State season record, would have the chance to cash in on two outs.

He did what he does best on the diamond, hitting a double through the left side that got Avery Smith and Preston Yaucher to home plate. Bryce Molinaro was next in the batter’s box, and moved Jayden Davis around the bases on an RBI double.

Anderson also tried to make it home on the hit, but Devin Russell was able to apply the tag just in time to escape the inning without any further damage. Even then, the Terps still entered the bottom of the fifth with a 12-3 deficit. The Nittany Lions (16-33, 9-19) held on for the remainder of the game to secure a 13-3 win over the Terps (25-29, 7-21) in the opening game of the rivalry series.

“We scored three and then got the bases loaded three times, it was going to be a slug it out day,” head coach Matt Swope said after the game. “We just needed just get a couple more big swings in those situations.”

Right-hander James Gladden made the first start of his Maryland career to open the series. He had a shaky start to the evening, walking his first two batters on eight pitches. This gave Penn State an opportunity to draw first blood, and it cashed in.

With two runners in scoring position, Bryce Molinaro hit a ball deep to right field that gave Jayden Davis the opportunity to get home from third base. In the next at bat, shortstop Ty Kaunas had a ball roll towards his glove that he wasn’t able to secure. The error let Anderson score from third. 

A double play limited any further damage and give Maryland’s explosive offense a chance to cut into the 2-0 deficit. Brayden Martin hustled out an infield single before getting to second base with his 20th steal of the year. However, a good inning from Penn State righty starter Colin Fitzgerald, including two strikeouts, stymied any scoring opportunities.

Gladden returned to the mound, and he continued struggling to control his pitches, allowing another four-pitch walk and a beanball. Despite this, he was able to escape the inning without allowing any runs. This gave the Terps offense the opportunity they needed to strike.

David Mendez led off the bottom of the second with a single, advancing to second on a wild pitch soon after. Paul Jones II entered the batter’s box and hit a single to right field, giving Mendez just enough time to leg it to home plate.

Jones II advanced to second after a single from Michael Iannazo, and then to third after an error from Penn State’s Kevin Karstetter. Suddenly, after a Jordan Crosland walk, the bases were loaded on two outs and the Dirty Terps had a chance to open the game up.

Evidently, it was not meant to be. A fielder’s choice ended the inning with all three runners stranded. Before Penn State’s offense went back out, the Terps pulled Gladden after some up and down innings, replacing him with lefty Landon Edwards.

Though Edwards quickly secured the first two outs, including his first strikeout, outfielder Jesse Jaconski wouldn’t let Penn State go down empty handed. He hit a ball deep to center field that got just enough carry to leave the yard. He and Anderson, who was on second base, took a free trip around the basepaths to make the score 4-1 Penn State.

Though they escaped the inning shortly after, the chance for the Dirty Terps to play spoiler for their bitter rivals in their final series of the year was slipping. They had to get their offense in its prime form, and Mendez was up to the task. 

After a Bud Coombs single, Mendez hit a ball to right center that left the yard. The hit gave Mendez his tenth home run of the year, and brought Maryland within one run of tying the ballgame up. Fitzgerald quickly got back on the horse, ending the inning with two straight strikeouts and giving the Nittany Lions a chance to respond.

And respond they did.

Edwards started the inning off shakily, walking Smith before a wild pitch let him advance to second. Soon after, McDonald blasted a ball to center field which moved the score to 6-3 Penn State.

Edwards was promptly sat down for the remainder of the evening after giving up the homer. Right-hander Andrew Koshy was summoned to the mound, tasked with finishing out the inning and providing some desperately needed stability in the pitching department.

Despite the change, things continued to unravel for Maryland. Penn State designated hitter Michael Anderson, one of the Big Ten’s most prolific power hitters, blasted a ball deep to left center that added another two runs to the Nittany Lions’ tally.

The homer was Anderson’s 20th of the season, putting him in Penn State’s record books for the most homers in a single season in program history. Despite outhitting their opponents 6-4 thus far, the Terps entered the bottom of the fourth desperate for some more runs.

Thankfully for Maryland, some erratic pitching from Fitzgerald gave the Terps a chance. Russell began the inning with a single, and two walks on Martin and Coombs loaded the bases on two outs again.

Penn State turned to the bullpen to save itself from the jam, sitting Fitzgerald down and giving right-hander Ben DeMell the task of stranding three Maryland baserunners. As it turned out, he was up to the task.

Ryan Costello, despite leading the team with 15 homers so far this year, couldn’t get the job done. He struck out looking, making the Terps 0-for-2 on bases loaded conversion attempts in the evening and making no dent in the deficit.

“We just needed somebody to come through early on and keep it close, and we just didn’t do that,” Swope said. “It’s stuff you work on, whether it’s bases loaded or nobody on, it’s process oriented stuff, and we just didn’t come through today.”

Despite its dire situation in the bottom of the fifth, Maryland’s offense left another pair of runners out to dry. After five full innings, both teams had logged eight hits, but Maryland had left nine runners stranded as opposed to just two from Penn State.

Maryland sent righty Ryan Bailey onto the mound for the sixth inning. He contributed two strikeouts, but Terps fielding did him no favors. Two straight errors gave Karstetter the opportunity to get home, moving the scoreline to 13-3 and putting the Terps in run-rule territory entering the bottom of the sixth.

Penn State sent right-hander Mason Horwat onto the mound to try and preserve its game-shortening lead. He did the job after forcing outs from three of the first four batters he faced. Quinn Yellin took the mound for the Terps, who were desperate to not let any more runs get away from them.

Though Penn State quickly got two on base, Yellin was able to see the inning through without giving up any runs. The Terps needed to get at least one runner home in the bottom of the seventh to escape a run-rule loss.

But it was not meant to be. Maryland left two last runners on the basepaths, failing to get the run it needed, sealing the deal on a 13-3 series opening loss to its bitter Pennsylvania rivals.

“The things that we’ve struggled with are pretty apparent, but we’re continuing to struggle with those things,” Swope said. “It doesn’t matter whether we’re out of it or not, we’re always coaching and trying all those different things.”