Following an eight-game homestand where they swept their competition, the Illini (25-15, 11-4) took a trip to the East Coast for a Big Ten road series against the Maryland Terrapins (28–17, 8-10.)
Illinois entered the weekend No. 1 in the conference, leading the Big Ten in home runs and No. 5 in runs scored. The Illini’s hot streak at the plate continued, but they could not muster another, dropping the final two of the series, their first of the year in conference.
Game one featured senior right-hander Jack Crowder on the bump, who recorded yet another quality start, his third in a row. Crowder pitched six innings of two-run ball, giving up just two hits. Junior catcher Camden Janik and junior third baseman Coltin Quagliano both had two hits for the Illini, with the latter recording a home run to accompany Janik’s three runs batted in.
The Illini got on the board early and often, scoring runs in the first two innings and another trio of runs in the fourth. The Illini took game one 7-4, with graduate student left-hander Cooper Omans slated to start the second game of the series. Omans had pitched well in his last few outings, with just six earned runs across his last 17.2 innings of work, but the Terrapins got to him in game two.
Omans recorded only three outs as the Terrapins drove in four runs in the first inning off the left-hander, building up a big lead. But, the Illini responded in the second inning, scoring three runs to make it 4-3. However, the Terapins added another run, ending Omans’ day early. The Illini tied it in the third inning at 5-5, but the Terrapins took the lead for good after that.
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Illinois recorded 15 hits in the game but left 10 runners stranded, while Maryland stood strong on the mound after a shaky start from junior left-hander Omar Melendez. The Terrapins took down the Illini in a 9-8 thriller, setting up a rubber match for the series on Sunday.
In the series-clinching game, Maryland got out to a fast start, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back. Illinois responded with a run in the second on an RBI single from Quagliano, but Maryland hit them right back with another run in the bottom half.
The Terrapins added four more in the third, holding a 7-1 advantage. The Illini fought back to make it 7-4 in the fifth inning, aided by a few scoreless innings from their pitching staff.
Maryland added another run in the seventh inning to go up 8-4, but once again, Illinois battled back to shrink the deficit to 8-7 in the eighth inning. However, that was all Illinois could muster, as Maryland pulled away with three more runs in the bottom half of the inning, and redshirt senior Logan Berrier slammed the door shut in the ninth, giving the hosts an 11-7 win.
The series loss is the first for Illinois since being swept at Tennessee in March. The Illini are back home on Tuesday against the Indiana State Sycamores, who hosted the Illini in Terre Haute on March 12 and defeated them 7-6.
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