Maryland baseball’s full-team effort nullifies Penn State, 12-2, in 7-inning beatdown
Cristofer Cespedes tossed six quality innings while the Terps launched four homers at the plate.
For weeks, Maryland baseball head coach Matt Swope chalked up messy conference losses to struggles on the pitching staff. “I think the pitching injuries alone cost us at least five wins,” he said after the Terps used seven pitchers against Georgetown Tuesday. However, it was starting pitcher Cristofer Cespedes who turned the tide in Maryland’s second game of the series against Penn State.
The sophomore struck out every Nittany Lion in the batting order at least once, logging 12 punch outs by the end of his time on the bump. In a striking turn of events, Cespedes’ success on the mound accompanied a hit fest from the Terps, leading Maryland to run-rule revenge against Penn State in a 12-2 victory. On a cool evening in College Park, the Terps’ bats set ablaze.
As a whole, Maryland only batted . 276 Thursday night. In just 24 hours, that number jumped to .
387. Seven of nine players in the lineup banked RBIs, and four balls cleared the fences. The Terps’ offensive spectacular didn’t start out in their favor, though.