Heading into the final series of the season, Maryland baseball’s postseason hopes were over, but it still had plenty to play for as it faced off against East Coast Big Ten rival Penn State.
Also, it was one final chance for all the Terps seniors to play in front of their home crowd at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.
Despite all this, Penn State blitzed the Terps from the start, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back. The Nittney Lions cruised to a 13-3 win, which was stopped after seven innings due to the run rule.
James Gladden earned the start for the Terps, his first of the season. Gladden will be honored on Sunday as part of Senior Day festivities for Maryland.
Gladden gave up no hits over two innings of work but surrendered two runs. He walked three batters, and one run scored on an error by shortstop Ty Kaunas.
The Terps’ bats were awake early as well. Paul Jones II ripped an RBI single to get the Terps on the board in the second inning.
Jones II is coming off one of the most impressive performances in Terps baseball history. On Tuesday against Georgetown, Jones II drove in 11 RBIs, a Terp record, along with crushing three home runs, tying a Terps record.
However, the Terps needed a lot more run support than just an RBI single.
Landon Edwards followed Gladden and struggled mightily. In just one inning of work, Edwards gave up four runs, a pair of two run homeruns.
Out of the bullpen next for the Terps was Andrew Koshy. Entering Thursday, Koshy had lowered his ERA to 4.85 and had put together a very solid season as a reliable bullpen arm.
But Thursday was not a good day for Koshy. He went two innings, giving relief to the bullpen, but gave up six runs, which extended the Nittney Lion lead to nine.
Michael Anderson shone for Penn State, collecting four RBIs off of Koshy, including a two-run home run.
During this Penn State onslaught, the Terps’ bats went silent, except for a two-run home run by David Mendez.
Mendez has had an impressive end to his season. He has knocked three home runs during the month of May, and his season batting average entering Thursday had ballooned to .315. Mendez will be looking to carry this strong finish into the 2027 season.
Quinn Yellin finished off the game for the Terps, pitching a quality, scoreless inning in just his third outing of the season.
The Terps will look to even up the series on Friday. But with the season’s outcome already determined, they will need some other motivation to pull off a series win.
