The Terps launched three home runs Friday.
Maryland baseball’s offense came out swinging in a much-needed game to stay alive for the Big Ten postseason against the team that ended its hopes last season, Penn State.
Brayden Martin led off the game with a single. The Hacopian brothers, Chris and Eddie, then launched back-to-back home runs to give the Terps an early 3-0 lead.
Defensive miscues by Maryland allowed Penn State to get within one run in the third, but they could never get closer. The Terps secured the series opener, beating Penn State 7-4.
In a battle of left-handed starters, Maryland’s (21-26, 7-15 Big Ten) ace Kyle McCoy came out on top. The redshirt sophomore allowed no earned runs in six innings of work, on seven hits with five strikeouts. It was McCoy’s fifth win of the season in his 11th start.
“Getting three in the first made me very confident [and] comfortable going out there,” McCoy said. “I know when I’m on, three is more than enough.”
This was not the case for Penn State (26-18, 12-13 Big Ten) starter Ryan DeSanto, who allowed his highest run total this season in just his second loss. The junior Maryland native gave up six runs on seven hits in five innings, while walking three batters.
Freshman Logan Hastings earned the three-inning save for Maryland, allowing one run and three hits. He worked out of an eighth-inning jam and escaped trouble again in the ninth inning, forcing a pop-up with the tying run at the plate.
The two home runs from the Hacopian brothers started the scoring, but senior Jacob Orr added a solo shot of his own in the third inning to extend the lead to 4-0.
“I thought a lot of our guys did a good job being on time and [DeSanto] liked to use his changeup to righties, and those are the guys who did damage early,” Orr said. “We tried to push it up, get a good pitch to hit, and dominate the zone.”
Despite the strong start, poor defense from the Terps allowed the Nittany Lions to respond and cut the lead in half.
First, a throwing error put a runner on, before Elijah Lambros misread a hit into the outfield, allowing the runner to score from first. The defensive struggles continued with another error, allowing runners to advance, while redshirt sophomore Bryce Molinaro drove in a second run for the Nittany Lions, making Maryland pay.
For a moment, the momentum was flipped. DeSanto retired three Maryland batters in four pitches to open the fourth inning, while the Nittany Lions ripped a double to open the bottom of the inning. Then, capitalizing on the Terps’ third throwing error of the game, the Nittany Lions got within one.
The Terps’ offense bounced back in a two-run fifth inning, with RBIs from Hollis Porter and Aden Hill ending DeSanto’s day. Redshirt junior Ben DeMell entered the game, but he quickly worked himself into trouble. Maryland loaded the bases before a wild pitch allowed Brayden Martin to score from third. DeMell worked out of the jam, forcing Alex Calarco to hit into a double play. A fly out from Orr ended the inning.
Maryland and McCoy faced trouble again in the sixth inning with runners on second and third base. But he made it out unscathed once again, ending his day on a high note. The Terps then brought in Hastings, who pitched a strong seventh inning, and escaped a jam in the eighth inning with just one run allowed on a sacrifice fly.
Despite putting its first two batters on, Maryland failed to add an insurance run in the ninth inning. Still, Hastings closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning to seal the victory.
“Good to get another win on Friday,” head coach Matt Swope said. “I thought that was one of the first times all season where we punched early on a really good pitcher… We’ve done plenty most of the time on Fridays to win, so it’s good to see Hastings shut the door for us.”
Three things to know
1. Monumental victory for Maryland. The Terps began Friday second-to-last in the Big Ten standings. The win over Penn State keeps Maryland in the postseason picture for now.
2. Revenge. The Terps were swept by the Nittany Lions in their final regular season series of the 2024 season — Friday’s victory served as a get-back. The Terps can win one of the next two games to secure their first weekend series win of conference play.
3. Brothers go back-to-back. Chris and Eddie Hacopian hit back-to-back home runs for the first time as college teammates.