Penn State baseball (16-34, 9-20 Big Ten) dropped its second-to-last game of the season, 12-2 to Maryland (26-29, 8-21 Big Ten) in seven innings on Friday night at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium in College Park, Maryland.

The Nittany Lions had to play catch-up from the second inning and were shut down offensively, tallying just five hits.

How It Happened

Bryce Molinaro was the lone Nittany Lion to reach a base in the top of the first, after he singled with two outs. He advanced to scoring position following a wild pitch, but was ultimately left stranded after Kevin Karstetter struck out.

Ben Hudson got the start on the mound for Penn State. He retired to the side to cap off a scoreless first inning.

Spencer Barnett opened up scoring at the top of the second. He hit a solo shot to give the Nittany Lions the lead. Maddox McDonald singled soon after, then stole second to get into scoring position with two outs. Again, a strikeout by Maryland pitcher Cristofer Cespedes ended the inning before any more damage could be done.

David Mendez tied things up for the Terrapins with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the second. Maryland followed it up by loading the bases with a walk, a single, and a hit by pitch. Jordan Crossland gave the Terrapins the lead after he was struck by a pitch before Brayden Martin singled to score two more, capping off a four-run second inning for Maryland.

Penn State went three-up-three-down at the top of the third with Michael Anderson and Molinaro both striking out.

Hudson bounced back with a one-two-three bottom of the third, while getting his first two strikeouts of the day.

Cespedes continued a strong outing for Maryland by striking out the heart of the order in the top of the fourth.

Nate Hawton-Henley singled in the bottom of the fourth. He scored following a two-run bomb hit by Devin Russel. Kyle Emmons came in to relieve Husdon on the mound right after. Emmons managed to put out the fire and hold Maryland at six runs despite walking back-to-back batters with two outs.

Cespedes again struck out three in the top of the fifth, but not before letting up a solo homer to Preston Yaucher, making it 6-2.

Bud Coombs hit a leadoff home run to begin the bottom of the fifth. Paul Jones II singled on the ensuing at-bat and was brought home after a single by Hawton-Henley to extend Maryland’s lead to six.

Anderson and Molinaro both reached to kick off the sixth. However, a Karstetter strikeout and double play off a grounder hit by Jesse Jaconski ended the top of the inning before Penn State could do any damage.

Dimond Loosli came in to pitch for the bottom of the sixth. He promptly gave up a leadoff single to Matin before Ryan Costello doubled, and Mendez tripled, scoring two runs. He was pulled in favor of Mason Horwat following a fielder’s choice, which scored another Terrapin run. Horwat got two quick outs to end the inning.

In the top of the seventh, Barnett hit a leadoff single. Walks drawn by Avery Smith and Jayden Davis loaded the bases with two outs. Anderson grounded out to strand all three runners and end the top half of the inning.

Robert Brown III pitched the bottom of the seventh for the Nittany Lions. He allowed a leadoff bomb hit by Russel to make it 12-2, ending the game via the 10-run rule in the seventh.

Takeaways

• Maryland pitcher Cristofer Cespedes shut down Penn State’s offense, striking out 12 in six innings.
• The Nittany Lions were awful on offense, mustering a measly five hits compared to the Terrapins 12. They also went 0-8 with runners on, with the team’s only runs coming from two solo home runs.
• Penn State’s pitching struggled at the beginning of innings, allowing Maryland to go four for seven when leading off, including a walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions will look to win their series against Maryland in their regular-season finale on Saturday, May 16. The contest will be held at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium in College Park, Maryland, and will start at 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.