BATON ROUGE, La. -- Sophomore Marty Costes notched three hits and junior Zach Jancarski reached base four times, but the Maryland baseball team fell to No. 5 LSU, 9-5, in the series finale at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge Sunday afternoon.
The Terrapins (1-5) tied the Tigers in hits with 11 apiece, but were kept off the scoreboard for most of the game after a three-run first. LSU took control of the game in a five-run third inning, the second consecutive game of the series in which that frame turned out to be the decisive moment in the game.
Maryland took an early lead with two first inning home runs. Junior Zach Jancarski lifted an Eric Walker 2-2 pitch over the wall in left to lead off the ballgame. A couple batters later, Costes singled into right before scoring on junior Will Watson's blast to left field.
Freshman RHP Tyler Blohm worked a scoreless first, but ran into trouble in the second inning as LSU plated a pair of runs. The Tigers would score five runs in the third off the combination of Blohm and right-hander Ryan Selmer, who entered in relief with nobody out in the frame.
After Maryland stranded the bases loaded in the fourth, Greg Deichmann extended the LSU lead to 9-3 in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run homer to right center field. From that point, Maryland's bullpen combination of Andrew Miller, Ryan Hill, Mike Rescigno and Tyler Stiles combined to hold the Tigers scoreless.
Maryland pulled closer in the seventh. Junior Kevin Biondic singled to open the inning before moving to third on a Nick Dunn single. Costes then singled through the right side to bring home Biondic. After Brandon Gum struck out, Watson walked to load the bases. Senior Madison Nickens singled to score Dunn, but Costes was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
With the score at 9-5, Maryland brought the tying run to the plate after loading the bases in the eighth. Costes ultimately grounded into a fielder's choice to end the Terps final real threat.
Jancarski's home run was the second of his career while Watson's was his first in a Terrapin uniform.
Maryland returns to the field in its home opener on Wednesday afternoon at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. James Madison will face off with the Terps beginning at 4 p.m. Coverage can be streamed on BTN Plus ($) or heard on the Maryland Baseball Network.
-Terps
