Maryland baseball falls 9-2 to No. 11 North Carolina

Maryland baseball’s winning streak ended Tuesday with a disappointing 9-2 loss to the No. 11-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels. The Terps needed to bring their A-game to defeat the Tar Heels, but that didn’t happen. Errors, wild pitches, and the long ball propelled North Carolina past Maryland. Conversely, Carolina was able to turn some double plays and made a couple of nifty grabs to rob Terrapin batters of hits.

Although the Terps were issued seven free passes, they managed just one hit and two runs, both runs coming home on an rbi single by Nick Dunn. They also fanned 12 times. Mike Rescigno was the lone bright spot, pitching two impressive innings.

Terps fall behind early

Once again, Maryland found itself in a big hole in a midweek game. In the bottom of the first, Brian Smith lined a single to center, stole second base, and then went to third on a wild pitch. He came home on a sac fly. One out later Zach Gahagan cleared the left field wall with a solo blast. Just like that the Terps were down 2-0.

Things went from bad to worse in the next inning. Tyler Lynn laid down a bunt single. Cody Roberts hit a potential double play grounder that AJ Lee failed to backhand, and the ball skipped to the outfield, putting runners on second and third with no outs. After a popout, Ike Freeman hit a drive that Madison Nickens grabbed while banging into the fence. Parsons walked the next hitter, and pitching coach Ryan Fecteau decided to bring in Ryan Hill. Logan Warmoth hit a grounder that skipped off Hill’s leg, and the fourth Tar Heel run scored.

But the Terps battled back in the top of the third. Lee and Justin Morris walked. After advancing on a ground out, both runners scored on a single by Nick Dunn.

McGee’s three run blast gives Tar Heels a commanding lead

The Tar Heels more than made up for that in the bottom of the fourth. Roberts hit a single into center field. A wild pitch and a ground out put him at third. With the infield drawn in, Freeman was able to push a soft liner into right for an RBI single. After a walk, the Terps were unable to complete a double play on a grounder to third. Ashton McGee made the Terps pay by hitting a three-run homer to make it 8-2 Tar Heels.

Mike Rescigno pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, only surrendering a hit-by-pitch (who was subsequently picked off first). The Tar Heels added a run in the seventh off Jamal Wade. A single, stolen base, wild pitch, and groundout made the score 9-2. Jared Price hurled a scoreless eighth.

With the loss, Maryland falls to 9-6 in 2017. The Terps host Princeton in a three-game set at The Bob this weekend.