The Terps struggled early and couldn’t retake the lead as they dropped game two to the Spartans, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon.
Logan Koester earned the start for the Terps and threw a career-high 115 pitches across 7.1 innings. It marked his third start of the season. He lasted more than seven innings. Koester recorded four strikeouts while only allowing six hits and two earned runs.
“He’s been consistent all year,” head coach Matt Swope said of Koester and his long outing on the mound. “I think we let him down, wasn’t really indicative of his start, which is kind of frustrating. But again, it’s huge because now we can bring everybody back in the bullpen tomorrow and get our main guys going and hopefully it’s in a situation to win.”
Michigan State got the scoring started in the second when the Terps allowed two runs to score via an RBi single and a throwing error. Then, in the third, the Spartans added two more runs because of more unsteady defense from the Terps.
Maryland finally got the bats moving in the bottom of the third and loaded the bases with consecutive base hits from Chris and Eddie Hacopian. However, the Terps could only push acess one run. The Terps cut the deficit to two in the bottom of the sixth with Sam Hojnar hitting a solo shot to center field.
That would be all for the Terps, though, because the Spartans extended their lead in the eighth, and the Terps couldn’t plate another run, leading to a 5-2 Michigan State victory.
