Maryland baseball splits doubleheader vs. Indiana

Maryland baseball split a doubleheader at Indiana on Saturday to start a three-game weekend series. After Friday’s would-be opener was postponed in the third inning, the teams came back and played nearly two full games. Indiana dismantled the Maryland bullpen in the first game en route to a 9-2 win, but the Terps responded with a 9-2 victory of their own in the second game of the afternoon.

Maryland moves to 13-4 in the Big Ten and 29-12 overall this season with the split. The rubber match of this series begins Sunday at 1:05 p.m. ET; it will be available on BTN Plus and the Maryland Baseball Network.

Game 1: Indiana 9, Maryland 2

This game was resumed in the bottom of the third inning, after weather postponed the game on Friday. Friday’s starters, Brian Shaffer for Maryland and Jonathan Stiever for Indiana, didn’t return to the mound on Saturday. Instead, Ryan Hill came in relief for Maryland and Cal Krueger came in relief for Indiana.

The game was scoreless when it resumed Saturday, but the early departure of Maryland’s ace ended up hurting the Terps. Indiana scored three runs in the third on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and two walks. Hunter Parsons replaced Hill in the fourth, his first appearance since pitching against George Mason on April 12. Tony Butler started the scoring in the inning with a two-run home run and the Hoosiers tacked on another with a Craig Dedelow RBI double.

Maryland cut into the Indiana lead in the top of the fifth. After Madison Nickens led off the inning with a single, Kevin Smith hit a triple to deep center field, hitting the wall. Smith then came home on an RBI groundout from Nick Cieri to get the Terps to within four at 6-2.

Indiana extended their lead to 9-2 in the bottom of the sixth as Luke Miller hit a three-run home run onto nearby Highway 45. Seven Indiana batters got hits on the day, with Butler and Miller going a combined seven for nine with two home runs and five RBI.

Krueger held the Terps on the other side of the ball, throwing six innings of two-run ball, striking out five Maryland batters.

Cameron Enck and Kevin Smith stood out for the Terps. Enck pitched two scoreless innings of relief, and Smith started the scoring for Maryland with the RBI triple in the fifth. —Alex Murphy

Game 2: Maryland 9, Indiana 2

Maryland scored in five different inning and pounded out 13 hits in Saturday’s second game. The Terps never trailed, and they started to pull away in the fifth.

Tyler Blohm gave the bullpen a rest by tossing 6.1 innings of two-run ball, surrendering six hits and striking out five. His offense gave him plenty of support, as eight different Terps hit safely and the team hit three homers. Marty Costes led the way with a 3-for-5 showing at the plate and a two-run homer.

The scoring started in the first, as Brandon Gum reached on an error and came around to score on Nick Dunn’s sacrifice fly to right. Costes’ homer in the third gave the Terps a 3-0 lead.

After starting with two scoreless frames, Blohm allowed a solo shot to Matt Gorski to lead off the third. The Hoosiers would tack on another run on Matt Lloyd’s two-out RBI single, but stranded runners at first and second.

A.J. Lee led off the Maryland fifth with a home run, and Zach Jancarski, Gum and Costes all followed with singles to load the bases. The Terps only added one more run, as Dunn grounded into a 4-6-3 double play and Will Watson popped out to end the frame.

Jancarski launched a homer to left in the top of the seventh, and Dan Maynard added a two-run single in the eighth. Maynard would score on Smith’s sacrifice fly, extending the lead to 9-2.

Ryan Selmer relieved Blohm with one out in the seventh and finished Indiana off with a perfect 2.2 innings. The drama-free victory moved Blohm to 8-3 in his rookie season. —Thomas Kendziora