The Terps let a late lead slip away, continuing their recent struggles.
In the top of the 10th inning of Friday’s game between Maryland baseball and Northwestern, the Terps went scoreless. Garrett Shearer struck out Chris Hacopian to strand two runners on base, giving the Wildcats a chance to win it.
Logan Berrier started his third inning of work by plunking Jackson Freeman, who advanced to third after a single. After a groundout, Maryland intentionally walked the bases for Tony Livermore.
Livermore made the Terps pay, ending Northwestern’s 10-game losing streak in the process. On a 1-0 pitch, Livermore sent the ball over left fielder Brayden Martin’s head, giving Northwestern a 6-5 win in the first game of the weekend series — its first Big Ten win this season.
Maryland fell to 22-13 on the season and 4-6 in Big Ten play, continuing its recent free fall. It has lost seven of its past nine games.
Terps starting pitcher Kenny Lippman has dealt with his fair share of struggles recently, but had a strong start to his outing on Friday. He didn’t allow a run until the fourth inning, when he gave up a two-run home run to Trent Liolios.
The Terps provided Lippman early run support, leading 4-0 before Liolios’ homer. Maryland’s scoring came from a Sam Hojnar RBI double and bases-clearing three-run double off the bat of Jacob Orr.
Later, Elijah Lambros executed a sacrifice bunt to bring in Eddie Hacopian from third, providing Maryland’s fifth and final run against a Wildcats squad that entered the weekend with a Big Ten-worst earned run average of 7.62.
Lippman worked a flawless fifth inning, but was hurt by the long ball again in the sixth when Jackson Freeman took him deep for a solo shot. In his six innings on the mound, Lippman allowed three earned runs and five hits, striking out five and not issuing a single walk.
Evan Smith relieved Lippman but couldn’t replicate his success from earlier in the week. He exited with the bases loaded and just two outs recorded, requiring Berrier to come in and clean up the mess. Berrier struck out Owen McElfatrick to end the seventh inning.
But Berrier wasn’t his usual self either, allowing Northwestern to score two eighth-inning runs and tie the game. Vince Bianchina hit a sacrifice fly before Liolios hit an RBI single.
Berrier pitched a scoreless ninth, but took his first loss of the year after allowing the game-winning run in the 10th.
Three things to know
1. Lippman finally bounced back. After seeing his ERA inflate in his last five starts, Lippman corrected course against Northwestern. His only weakness on Friday was the long ball, as he gave up two home runs.
2. Northwestern’s first Big Ten win. Coming into Friday, Northwestern was 0-6 in Big Ten play. But the Wildcats worked some magic and came back to defeat Maryland, which is staring down its third straight conference series loss.
3. Berrier couldn’t get the job done. Friday may have been Berrier’s least impressive appearance of the year — surprising for the redshirt senior, who’s easily been Maryland’s best reliever this season. He also threw 65 pitches, making it unclear whether he’ll be available the rest of the weekend.