Heading into its Friday night tilt against Michigan, Maryland baseball’s Big Ten Tournament aspirations remained alive, but were slim.
When Maryland ace Logan Hastings woke up sick Friday morning, head coach Matt Swope was forced to turn to reliever Cristofer Cespedes for his first start of the season in a crucial game in the Big Ten standings.
Cespedes pitched with confidence, bringing a no-hitter into the sixth inning. His gutsy performance, followed by four strong innings from Lance Williams, gave the Terps a chance to win Friday night, but Maryland’s bats failed to add the necessary run support.
The Wolverines knocked a game-winning homerun in the top of the tenth inning and held on to win 2-1 over Maryland in Friday night’s pitching duel at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.
Cespedes was absolutely dealing all game. His day ended after throwing six innings, giving up just one unearned run on one hit, while striking out three. Michigan did not have a hit until the sixth inning, highlighting how dominant Cespedes was on Friday.
“Best start of the year,” Swope said. “Just tremendous on short notice like that. We just have to win that game.”
For Michigan, their ace Kurt Barr took the mound on Friday night. Barr has had an impressive season, recording a win against No. 16 Nebraska and throwing a complete game against Michigan State.
His dominance was once again on display against the Terps. Barr pitched five and 2/3 innings, allowing just one run and struck out eight Terps.
In a game with so little offensive action, both teams were trying to manufacture runs, with little success. Maryland catcher Devin Russell caught a Michigan runner stealing to end the top of the fifth inning. The Wolverines responded, with Barr picking off Nate Hawton-Henley at first base to end the fifth inning.
In the sixth inning, errors by both teams brought a run across for each side. Brayden Martin botched a groundball that eventually led to a run for Michigan. In the bottom of the inning, Wolverine left fielder Brenden Stressler fumbled a single by Martin, allowing him to reach second. He eventually came across on an RBI groundout by David Mendez.
Out of the bullpen for the Terps was Williams, who picked up right where Cespedes left off. Williams did not allow a hit in his first three innings pitched and struck out an impressive eight batters. His strong performance kept the game tied and helped send the game to extra innings.
“I thought Lance obviously did a great job,” Swope said.
But in the tenth inning, Williams could no longer contain the Michigan bats. Joonsung Park knocked his first home run of the season to give the Wolverines a one-run lead.
The Terps could not manage more than one run. They were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Hawton-Henley led off the seventh with a double, but was thrown out on a poorly placed bunt by Russell. That was the last time the Terps posed a threat.
“It comes down to execution offensively,” Swope said. “The offense has to execute a little bit and win the game.”
A big reason for the Terps’ struggles was Michigan reliever Gavin DeVooght. DeVooght allowed no runs to score and just two baserunners total in 4 and 2/3 innings. He earned the win after his lengthy relief appearance.
Maryland needs a near miracle to make the Big Ten Tournament after its loss tonight. With eight conference games remaining, the Terps likely need to win at least six of them — its total in their first 22 games of Big Ten play.
