Maryland baseball returned to the diamond this weekend in the Kieberg Bank College Classic down in Corpus Christi, Texas, picking up a pair of wins to move to 5-2 on the season. Here’s a look at how the Terps fared:
Friday: Maryland 7, Texas A&M Corpus Christi 5
It was another wild game to open a series for Maryland on Friday night, and another late-inning comeback for the Terps. Maryland was able to get on the board early thanks to a first-inning RBI from Chris Hacopian, but the Islanders struck back for two in the bottom of the first. The Islanders broke it open even further scoring two more in the bottom of the fourth. The game stayed at 4-1 until the top of the seventh inning, when the Terps stormed back to tie it up. Maryland scored three two-out runs to knot the score up at 4. It was Sam Hojnar who provided the big knock of the inning with a two-run single to tie it. The Islanders had a golden opportunity to take the lead back in the eighth when they loaded the bases with no one out, but Nate Haberthier was able to induce a pop out and a double play keeping the score tied at 4. In the ninth, Eddie Hacopian was able to come through giving the Terps the lead with an RBI single, and later in the inning, Sam Hojnar stuck in the dagger with a two-run homer. The Islanders got one back in the ninth, but it was not enough.
Saturday: Maryland 10, Pittsburgh 4
The Terps were able to secure a winning weekend with a dominant performance Saturday over their former ACC mates Pitt. The game got out of hand quite quickly as Maryland put up a seven spot in the 2nd inning, highlighted by a bases-clearing double by Sam Hojnar to make it 5-0, and then a 2-run home run by Chris Hacopian to make it 7-0. Pitt was able to string together some runs in the fifth scoring four times, but it was in vain. The Terps added one in the fifth, and two in the seventh to secure a 10-4 win. Logan Koester made another solid start for Maryland going five innings and allowing just three earned runs. Joey McMannis and Logan Berrier threw four scoreless innings of relief en route to the win.
Sunday: Washington 6, Maryland 5
Matt Swope’s team had an opportunity Sunday to really make some noise and sweep the weekend and in doing so, beat an NCAA Tournament from last season. Despite leading 5-2 going into eighth inning, Washington’s late comeback denied Maryland that opportunity. Down 1-0 in the second inning, freshman Brayden Martin came through clearing the bases with a double and giving the Terps a 3-1 lead. The Huskies were able to tie it thanks to two solo homers, one by Alva Arquette in the fourth and one by Michael Brown in the sixth. Eddie Hacopian was able to give the Terps the lead back in the seventh with a two-run single. However, after a couple of walks with two out in the eighth, Washington’s ninth-place hitter Blake Wilson hit a game-winning three-run homer off of freshman Evan Smith to secure the win for Washington and deny the Terps a sweep of the weekend. Meade Johnson started for Maryland and went four solid innings, with Rutgers transfer Garrett French making his Maryland debut as well. French threw two innings of relief.
Takeaways:
Huge Weekend for the Hacopians
It must be fun playing baseball with your brother in the Big Ten. Eddie and Chris Hacopian had a huge weekend. Chris had two hits on Saturday including a home run, and drove in three. Eddie had the game winning RBI hit on Friday, and his two-run single in the 7th on Sunday put Maryland in the lead. In addition, Eddie has hit leadoff in the last four games, with Chris hitting third.
Sam Hojnar settling in nicely
Second base was a position of unknown heading into the season with Kevin Keister sliding to short, but Iowa transfer Sam Hojnar has quickly erased any questions that anyone might have had about the position. Hojnar had four RBIs on Friday including the game-tying RBI single, and the massive two-run home run in the 10th that essentially won Maryland the game. He added four more RBIs in Saturday’s win over Pitt.
A successful weekend could’ve ended better
It was a good weekend for the Terps, but after squandering a three-run lead late on Sunday, it’s worth wondering whether Matt Swope feels like his team left a little bit of meat on the bone. A win over an NCAA Tournament team in game seven of the season to secure a round-robin sweep would’ve put some people on notice about the Terps. However, Maryland remains in a very good position. The Terps are 5-2 with an opportunity to string some wins together coming up.
Up next:
Maryland will spend the week in the DMV hosting Georgetown on Tuesday, traveling to Richmond on Wednesday for a date with VCU, and welcoming in the Bryant Bulldogs for a weekend series beginning Friday.
All four home games will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus. Wednesday’s game can be seen on ESPN+. All Maryland Baseball games are free to listen to on the Maryland Baseball Network.
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