Baseball drops series to Maryland

Troy baseball dropped its weekend series against Maryland at Riddle-Pace Field, 2-1.  

The Trojans took the series opener over the Terrapins, with the team effort of Tommy Egan and Aaron Piasecki, to secure the win, 5-2.  

Egan set the tone for the Trojans with five scoreless innings, and Piasecki slammed a three-run blast in the bottom of the third, going 345 feet over the right field wall to put the Trojans up 3-0. 

"That one impactful swing is kind of how Friday nights can be,” said head coach Skylar Meade. “We were hoping to finish it 5-0. 

“They ended up getting the runs on a good swing. But that being said, it's kind of what it looks like. Their arm [Lance Williams] is really good."  

The Trojans kept momentum as Sean Darnell was hit –by a pitch and put in scoring position by a sacrifice bunt from Josh Pyne. Zaid Diaz knocked a single to the right side to bring Darnell in for a run, extending the lead 4-0.  

Nolan Book delivered an RBI single to bring Drew Nelson in and made the lead 5-0. 

Maryland managed to put up two runs on the Trojans in the ninth, but Dylan Alonso stepped in for Troy and closed the door with his third save of the year.  

The Trojans then fell to the Terrapins in the next two matchups, struggling to produce runs and keep the Terrapins down.  

On Saturday, the Trojans gained a lead, 3-2, in the third inning, but were held scoreless by Maryland’s Nic Morlang and Logan Hastings the rest of the way. The Terrapins responded on offense with a solo home run from Aden Hill to tie the game in the third and then a single in the fifth to regain the lead.  

Insurance runs came from the Terrapins in the seventh and eighth innings, with a two-run homer finishing the scoring in the ninth. 

"They scored the fourth through ninth runs with two outs,” Meade said. “We got to the finish line of innings but just couldn't get it done.  

“The secondary story is we struck out 13 times." 

Sunday was a similar story, but the Trojans showed a fight as they held a lead with four runs in the fourth. Troy kept the Terrapins scoreless in the first five, but Maryland rallied with six runs in the eighth and ninth innings to take the series. 

"Their great players made great moments,” Meade said. “They have an outstanding offense and we held it at bay, until we didn't.  

“You look at all of it, I spoke of it yesterday, runs four through nine were all with two outs. Today, all the runs they scored [in the ninth] were with two strikes." 

After a midweek trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to take on Alabama on March 10, the Trojans will open Sun Belt Conference play against Old Dominion at Riddle-Pace Field.