Maryland Dominates Huskers to Tie Baseball Series

Nebraska's arms and bats falter in 11-2 loss to Terps

Ben Columbus's performance at the plate was one of the few bright spots Saturday for Nebraska. / Nebraska Athletics

It was a long day at the Haymarket Park for the Nebraska baseball Saturday afternoon as the Maryland Terrapins dominated the Big Red to the tune of 11-2.

Nebraska drops to 24-12 on the year and 7-4 in Big Ten play.

Maryland got to Nebraska's starter, Mason McConaughey, early in the contest. Despite the freshman’s excellent start to the year, with a 2.29 ERA in 35.1 innings, he served pitches to Terrapin hitters on a silver platter, relinquishing five runs in 1.2 innings pitched.

Caleb Clark came in relief for McCoungahey in the second inning. Clark started his day out nicely. Through three innings, he held Maryland at bay, giving up one run and keeping Nebraska in the contest. Unfortunately for Clark, his offense provided no help.

Maryland cracked the game wide open in sixth. The Terrapins scored three runs on Clark, knocking him out of the game, and added two more runs off reliever Bobby Olsen for good measure. Maryland scored five runs on two homers, making the score 11-1

Maryland rode its pitching the rest of the way, leaving Haymarket Park with an 11-2 victory.

Nebraska’s pitching was not good enough to win Saturday, but the Huskers' offense also left much to be desired. The Big Red hit an abysmal 2-for-17 with runners on base, and left nine runners stranded. Maryland’s Omar Melendez was lights out. The lefty allowed two runs on six hits in six innings of work. The junior bounced back from his last outing, when he allowed four runs in 2.2 innings pitched against Northwestern.

The only Husker who could figure out Melendez was the fiery Ben Columbus. Columbus, Nebraska's leader on average, extended his hitting streak to six games with home run in the fourth. Columbus drove in Nebraska’s second run of the game in the sixth on a sacrifice fly, scoring Josh Caron. Columbus is 12 of his last 22 from the batter’s box and has four home runs in his last six games.

Nebraska and Maryland will face off again Sunday in a 12:05 p.m. rubber match for the three=game series Haymarket Park. The Huskers won Friday night's opener, 6-3.

• Box score

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