Maryland baseball has an extremely talented roster, with players up and down the lineup. The team hits for power, can steal some bases and hit for contact.
However, there is something to be said about the little things with this Terps team.
This season has been the epitome of a young team learning how to win, with exciting offense and head-scratching woes. In the opener of the all-important series against Ohio State, the Terps’ issues came back to bite them when it mattered most.
The Terps fell to Ohio State 10-8 in the opening game of the series, leaving Maryland without a Big Ten series opening win this season.
The Terps committed four errors on the day, resulting in three unearned Buckeye runs.
When asked about how the coaching staff can prevent miscues and errors, head coach Matt Swope said, “I don’t know how to answer that.”
The frustration was clear.
Two errors were committed on the same play. Ty Kaunas went from shortstop to left field, but dropped a pop fly. Jordan Crosland, the left fielder, threw an errant throw that plated two Buckeye runs. A Paul Jones II throw that hit the back of the runner plates another.
With all these errors, Terps starter Evan Smith was thrown into the deep end early. The box score didn’t show it, but Smith battled hard and was largely let down by his defense. He finished with 5 2/3innings pitched and only three earned runs.
“We let him down there. He had a really good start today. He did great and competed,” Swope said.
All the baserunners caught up to the Terps eventually, as a three-run bomb by Cristopher Cespedes, his first home run this year, followed by an RBI triple on a ball overplayed by Crosland, blew the game open to 10-3.
Offensively, the Terps were not the cleanest. They left the bases empty in the bottom of the first. In total, they left 13 runners on base in comparison to eight for the Buckeyes.
“I talked to the guys about the 11 guys left on base in five innings. That’s kinda been the story in the first half of the season: we are working the starter but not punching through. I was extremely disappointed in that,” Swope said.
The Terps did well offensively in the second and the eighth inning, plating seven of their eight runs in that frame. Highlighted by a three-run double by Jordan Crosland to revive the Terps in the eighth.
The Terps went into the ninth inning down two runs, and Brayden Martin doubled to put a runner on second with no outs. Three straight Terps failed to drive him in and the volatility of this young Terps squad was on full display in Columbus.
