Maryland’s Fire Power Too Much for Nebraska Baseball

You had a feeling the way Nebraska’s pitching and Maryland’s offense was coming into this series, that one of these games could happen, especially considering the stadium the series is being played in. Will Walsh didn’t get off to a bad start, considering the runs being put up in this series, but he was pulled early, and the Husker bullpen just couldn’t keep thins together.

Like every game this series, Nebraska actually got the early lead. In the 2nd innings, Dylan Carey hit a 2 RBI single that put Nebraska up 2-0. Maryland would get those 2 runs right back in the bottom of the inning though, with a 2 RBI single of their own.

The Huskers took the lead again in the 3rd, with Gabe Swansen drove in Casey Burnham to make the score 3-2 in favor of NU. Maryland again answered in the bottom of the inning, as Nick Lorusso hit a 2 run home run, giving the Terps their first lead of the game, 4-3. Lorusso would end the series with not only claiming the NCAA lead in RBIs, but setting a record for RBIs in a season for a Terrapin.

The 4th inning is where things went completely sideways. 2 home runs, a run scored on a wild pitch (the 7th time this week a run has scored on a wild pitch or passed ball), and another 2 RBI single by Lorusso plated 8 runs for Maryland, and they took a commanding 12-3 lead.

A Max Anderson 2 run home run, his team leading 19th on the year, and 36th of his career, good for 8th place on the all time Husker list. That brought the game to a 12-5 score, but that was the closest Nebraska would get for the remainder of the game. Maryland would put up another 8 spot in the 6th, capped off by Lorusso hitting a grand slam over the batters eye in center field. 20-5 was the score after that inning, and would be the final as well.

You have to wonder if pulling Will Walsh was the right move. He had given up a few runs, but was keeping Nebraska in the game. Drew Christo was given the quick pull as well, and thats when the game started spiraling. Having only used 2 relievers, and therefore having a huge amount of relief pitchers available for today, may have had the coaching staff a little too eager to pull the trigger on pitching changes.

The Nebraska offense did not show up in this series like should have been expected. Only 2 players had more than 1 hit today, in Max Anderson and Charlie Fischer. Brice Matthews ended the series built for offense going 2 for 11, with 4 strikeouts and no RBIs. Not what you’d expect from a guy coming in that was in contention for conference player of the year.

Nebraska has one more mid week game, well one and a half with the completion of the previously suspended Creighton game on Tuesday. The suspended game will start at 5 pm, and the originally scheduled game will be at 7 pm.

After that, there are two more Big Ten series to complete the regular season. First, Nebraska hosts Penn State, who is currently tied for 11th. Then they travel to Purdue, who is in a 4 way tie for 5th place with Nebraska, Michigan and Michigan State. It could be a high stakes weekend for both teams. But I guarantee you that Nebraska won’t be leaving West Lafayette without playing all the scheduled games. #NeverForget