One night ago under the lights, it was heartbreak for Maryland baseball following a ninth-inning disaster. Less than 24 hours later, the hard times continued, as they were steamrolled by Louisiana, 9-1.
“We just lost today… that’s just baseball sometimes, you know, I told the guys we didn’t do a good job necessarily, taking something away from the starter,” said Swope. “And sometimes you got to give him credit. He was good today … I like the way we finished. The last three innings kind of built it up, kept fighting. [And] that’s who we got to be.”
It was an afternoon of near perfection for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who won their first series of 2026. Left-handed starter Andrew Herrmann dominated with a six and one-third inning performance of two hits, one run, three walks and seven strikeouts on 116 pitches.
Saturday was the lefty graduate’s best start of the season. He rebounded from a week ago, when he walked five batters and gave up two runs against Missouri State.
The Terps only found offense from sophomore catcher Rylen Stockton, who delivered his second long ball of the season in the seventh inning. The newcomer is now up to a .389 average through six games. Outside of Stockton and his 2-for-4 day at the plate, the Terps combined to record three hits.
Louisiana has won three games in a row, and its offense was hot in contrast to the Terps on Saturday — with 11 hits, nine RBIs, eight walks and just three batters retired on strikes.
Terps freshman starter Nic Morlang made his second start. He kept things clean with scoreless pitching until the fourth inning. He surrendered six hits, four earned runs and two walks in 55 pitches. The next phase in the young pitcher’s game to develop is getting over the hump down the stretch in outings.
“I wasn’t necessarily discouraged by the effort or anything like that. I thought Nic did a good job. Just kind of let things compound in that [fourth] inning,” Swope said. “We talked about trying to limit all that stuff. So I think today is more just a case that we [as a team] lost.”
Last week, in his debut against UNC Wilmington, Morlang’s momentum stalled in the third inning. This week, it was the fourth frame. Morlang, who is 0-2 to start the year, was only able to record one punch out in three innings of work against Louisiana. The Terps then had to rely on a struggling bullpen.
On Friday, Swope tried to stretch reliever Cristofer Cespedes to four innings of relief work. He had built himself to four strikeouts, but then came an implosion of six earned runs and four free passes given from the bullpen.
One Saturday ago, Maryland had to use five relief arms. This time around, appearances weren’t erratic, but in the blowout, the staff gave up four runs and six walks. One standout was freshman left-handed reliever Case Gibbs, who went an inning and ⅔, allowing one hit and two strikeouts.
In the series finale, Maryland’s Sunday pitching plans and lineup will have to step up — the Terps will look to avoid a sweep for the first time since playing Illinois in April 2025.
“I just told them we got to do whatever we can to salvage the series. Good teams sweep and they don’t get swept,” Swope added. “So it’s just one of those things, we got to come out and get a win.”
Three things to know
1. New adversity. After a 3-1 start, the Terps find themselves 0-2 in Louisiana. On Sunday, they will look to salvage a series after facing their first tall task in their non-conference schedule.
2. Pitching troubles. Outside of right-hander Lance Williams, Maryland’s pitching staff has struggled. They have given up 10 total runs and walks across Friday and Saturday.
3. Bud Coombs’ return. Freshman Bud Coombs returned Saturday in a substitution opportunity for the Terps. This came one week after he left Maryland’s Feb. 14 doubleheader against UNC Wilmington with an ankle injury.
Read the full article here