Maryland baseball drops roller-coaster game to Stetson, 12-7

In the second game of a three-game series, Maryland baseball was defeated 12-7 by Stetson in a roller-coaster game Saturday night.

This game started off high-scoring, with the teams putting up a combined five runs in the first inning. From then on, it seemed to become a pitchers duel with both starters combining for 17 strikeouts. Once each team went to the bullpen, though, the game blew open, with Stetson pulling away late.

Stetson’s starting pitcher, freshman Daniel Paret, struck out a career-high 11 batters in 6.0 innings pitched. Maxwell Costes stayed scorching hot for the Terps, going 3-for-5 and driving in five of the seven Maryland runs. Zach Thompson gave up four runs in 4.2 innings, but just one was earned.

The Terps started off hot, putting two runs on the board in the first inning. Chris Alleyne started it off with a leadoff single into center field. Randy Bednar walked and Taylor Wright moved them over with a sacrifice bunt. Costes stayed scorching hot and ripped a single up the middle, driving in Alleyne and Bednar.

But the Hatters struck back in the bottom of the first inning. Noah Dickerson singled and reached second base on an error. With two outs, the scoring run started. Austin Bogart walked. Andrew MacNeil reached base on an error, scoring Dickerson and advancing Bogart to third base. The next batter, Jonathan Meola, doubled to left center field, scoring both Bogart and MacNeil, giving Stetson a 3-2 lead.

After both teams went down 1-2-3 in the second inning, Alleyne led off the third with a ground rule double and later scored the tying run on a Bednar single. That score held until Stetson took the lead back in the fifth inning on an RBI groundout from Dickerson. In the sixth, Jorge Arenas singled home a run and later scored on a wild pitch, making it 6-3 Hatters.

In the top of the seventh inning, Maryland woke up on offense. Gardiner and Cowles started the inning with back-to-back singles. Kody Milton walked, and Alleyne later drove in Gardiner on a fielder’s choice. Two batters later, Wright walked to load the bases. Costes then hit a bases-clearing double that gave Maryland a 7-6 lead.

Stetson took the lead right back in the bottom of the seventh, though. MacNeil reached first base on a fielder’s choice and then stole second. Kyle Ball walked and then EJ Boskow came in to pinch hit for Benito Valera. Boskow cracked a three-run home run over the left field fence, giving the Hatters a 9-7 lead.

They never looked back, controlling the game the rest of the way. Maryland looked as if it would come back in the eighth inning, but stranded runners on first and third. Stetson plated three more runs in the bottom of the eighth. They came on a wild pitch, a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly, making the lead 12-7.

The series is now tied 1-1 with the rubber match Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.