Maryland baseball drops rubber match vs. Nebraska, 8-4

A stellar pitching performance by Jake Meyers and timely hitting were the difference on Sunday as Nebraska took the rubber match, 8-4, in the weekend series against Maryland.

Meyers pitched 7.1 innings of three-run baseball, allowing seven hits and striking out four. Ben Miller stayed hot at the plate for Nebraska, going 4-for-5 on the day with a double, three RBIs, and two runs scored. In the series, Miller went 10-for-13.

Three Terps had multi-hit games, and Marty Costes continued his hot streak of hitting over the last few weeks, going 3-for-4 on the day with three RBIs, including a two-run homer. Zach Jancarski went 2-for-3 with the two doubles and two runs scored.

After an 8-5 comeback win on Saturday, the Terps looked to take the weekend series against the Cornhuskers. Freshman lefty Tyler Blohm took the hill for Maryland, looking to build off his last few starts, with Nebraska southpaw Meyers opposing him.

In the first inning, the Huskers took the early 1-0 lead thanks to a bloop single into left field from Miller. Meyers started out the game retiring the first nine Maryland batters he faced before giving up a leadoff double to Jancarski in the fourth inning. The Terps would tie the game up on a Costes RBI single two batters later.

The Huskers would take back the lead in the bottom half of the inning. After loading the bases with one out, Jesse Wilkening hit a line drive out to Will Watson, who was unable to double up Miller at home, putting Nebraska up 2-1.

Miller struck again in the bottom of the fifth, driving in two with a double into the left-center gap, putting the Huskers up 4-1. Blohm was taken out in the fifth, but not before coach John Szefc was ejected for arguing balls and strikes from the Maryland dugout.

Blohm, whose achilles heel has been getting past the fifth inning, threw 4.1 frames, and was charged with three earned runs. He struck out three, but walked two.

That two-run lead didn’t last long as Maryland brought it back to within one in the top half of the sixth inning. Jancarski led off the inning with his second double of the game, only to be out shadowed by Costes, who hit a two-run moon shot homer out of Haymarket Park, to cutting the lead to 4-3.

However, Nebraska matched with a two-run homer of its own in the bottom half of the inning, off the bat of Jake Schleppenbach. The ball was just out of the reach of Costes in right field, and it gave Nebraska a 6-3 lead.

The Huskers added two more the seventh inning, increasing the lead to 8-3. Miller started out the inning with a single, and Mike Rescigno surrendered the two runs, off an RBI single from Wilkening and a wild pitch that allowed Wilkening to score.

The Terps got a run back in the ninth inning after Dan Maynard doubled down the third base line and AJ Lee singled him in, but that was all they would manage.

Maryland will come home on Tuesday for a matchup against West Virginia, before quickly heading on the road for a game at George Mason. The Terps will then host Penn State this weekend.