Big Ten baseball tournament results: Maryland beats Indiana 5-3 behind Mike Shawaryn's strong outing

No. 6 Maryland defeated No. 3 Indiana in the Big Ten's baseball tournament on Wednesday behind a record-setting performance by pitcher Mike Shawaryn and three hits apiece from Marty Costes and Nick Dunn.

The Unicorn once again went the distance, striking out 16 Hoosiers while allowing only four hits and two earned runs. The 16 strikeouts set a new TD Ameritrade Park record as a Shawaryn career high.

Marty Costes had three extra base hits and a superb diving catch, while Nick Dunn collected three hits and three rbis.

Costes’ extra base hits help Terps take a 4-1 lead

Indiana’s pitcher, LHP Kyle Hart was just recently named first-team B1G pitcher. His history suggests that he’s vulnerable in the first and second innings. So it was important that Maryland got off to a strong start. It certainly looked like that would happen in the first inning. Marty Costes tripled, then came home when Nick Dunn sliced a single to left. Kevin Smith followed with another single, putting runners on first and second with one down. But the Terps couldn’t muster any more runs in the first inning. Nick Cieri turned on a pitch to start the second inning and drove it down the line for a double. Andrew Bechtold sacrificed Cieri to third. Unfortunately, Zach Jancarski grounded to the shortstop on a drawn-in infield, and Anthony Papio struck out. Although the Terps led 1-0 it seemed like they left some money on the table.

Mike Shawaryn was untouchable through the first two innings, striking out all six batters he faced. Trouble began when Austin Cangelosi drew a leadoff walk in the third. After Brian Wilhite became Shawaryn’s seventh strike out victim, Colby Stratten hit what looked like a double play grounder to third. But the ball went through Bechtold’s legs, and suddenly there were runners on the corners with one away. Indiana tied the score when Alex Krupa hit into a force play.

Indiana finally got a first base hit in the fourth on an infield single by Luke Miller.

Maryland jumped back on top in the top of the fifth, via four consecutive hits. With one away, Jancarski and Papio both singled. Costes got his second extra base hit of the game, a ground rule double to left center that scored Jancarski. Dunn singled, bringing home Papio. A wild pitch allowed Dunn to take second. Smith hit a ground out that made it 4-1 Maryland.

Hoosiers cut Terrapin lead to a single run

Indiana answered right back in the bottom of the inning. Wilhite walked, and Stratten blasted a pitch to left center for an rbi double. After Shawaryn’s 11th strike out, Craig Dedelow dumped a shallow fly that Jancarski almost caught: runners were on the corners with one away. Logan Sowers hit a sacrifice fly to right to pull Indiana to within 4-3. Ryan Fineman laced a pitch that looked like trouble for the terps. However, Marty Costes made a leaping grab to preserve the Terrapin lead. It turned out to be a possible game saver, as the score remained tight the rest of the way.

Dunn’s third rbi and Shawaryn’s record setting Ks propel Terps to victory

Indiana’s long reliever RHP Jonathan Stiever replaced Hart to start the sixth inning. After retiring the side in the sixth inning and getting the first two outs in the seventh, he ran into the hot-hitting Terrapin freshman. Costes got his third XBH when he smoked a ball to left field that almost went out. Dunn lined a double into the right field corner to make it 5-3 Maryland; Dunn’s third hit of the game and his third rbi.

In the bottom of the seventh Shawaryn struck out Stratten. The Unicorn’s 13th strike out set a new TD Ameritrade record: that’s in over 200 games played here. The 13th K also tied Shawaryn’s career high.

Shawaryn was still on the hill in the Indiana eighth. With one away Shawaryn struck out Fineman, the 14th K being a new career high for The Unicorn. Shawaryn struck out one more in that inning. He stayed on to pitch in the ninth inning, despite throwing well over 100 pitches. No problem, as Shawaryn retired the side in order, and the Terps prevailed 5-3.

Shawaryn’s final line: 9ip, 3r, 2er, 4h, 3bb, 16k, 125 tp. In the first inning, Shawaryn surpassed Chris Clem’s school record of 298.2 innings pitched.

With the win the Terps improve to 29-25 overall, and Shawaryn moves to 6-4. The sixth win is Shawaryn’s 30th at Maryland. On Thursday, Maryland faces the winner of Wednesday afternoon's Nebraska-Michigan State game.