Chris and Eddie Hacopian continue their family’s Maryland baseball lineage

Every day as kids, Chris and Eddie Hacopian would go into their backyard and play wiffle ball. The games were intense. Neither wanted to lose to their sibling.

The competition didn’t stop there. When the brothers would finish outside they would then transition their game inside the house, using mini bats and thrashing a foam baseball at each other from 25 feet away.

Despite their shared love of the game, the brothers shared completely different paths. Chris Hacopian committed to Wake Forest during his freshman year of high school, while Eddie Hacopian played at Cypress College — a California junior college — before playing at Maryland.

“We did not recruit Eddie [Hacopian] out of high school,” coach Matt Swope said. “At the time, it just wasn’t necessarily a good fit. So kudos goes to him for betting on himself going to a junior college.”

Eddie Hacopian joined the Terps last season. When Chris Hacopian de-committed from Wake Forest, it allowed the brothers to reunite. 

“The big reason I came here was family,” Chris Hacopian said. “That is something special that I couldn’t get away from.”

The family aspect extends beyond just the brothers. Their dad, Derek Hacopian, played at Maryland. 

Derek Hacopian was a legend during his playing time for the Terps, leaving his mark all over the record books. Most notably, he is third all-time for Maryland’s single-season batting average, finishing the 1992 season with a .492 batting average.

Despite their dad’s success, Eddie and Chris Hacopian said he never tried to steer either of them towards going to Maryland over another school.

The Terps suffered massive roster turnover this past offseason due to seven players being picked in the 2023 MLB Draft and former coach Rob Vaughn leaving for Alabama. As a result of the turnover, Maryland’s game-day roster consistently changes with each game this season. 

The Hacopian brothers have been continuous bright spots in the Maryland lineup. 

Chris Hacopian leads the team in home runs and slugging percentage as a freshman and is second — only to his older brother — in batting average and on-base percentage among starters, showing he can hit for power while consistently getting on base. 

Eddie Hacopian leads all starters in batting average and on-base percentage and is third in RBIs. He ranks second on the team in slugging percentage. His consistent ability to get on base has helped earn him the name “steady Eddie” — a nickname often used by Swope when talking about Eddie Hacopian.

“He does all the intangibles [and] does all the things you want,” Swope said. “You see, in the Portland game, he’s not feeling great in the game, and he puts down a bases-loaded drag to give us another run. So he’s just mister consistent.” 

The brothers credit some of their success to the wiffle and foam ball games they played as kids.

“Being able to barrel baseballs and not swinging and missing…from 25 feet away helped a lot,” Eddie Hacopian said.

The brothers’ similar success doesn’t come from the same physique. 

Eddie Hacopian’s body type is similar to that of a runner, tall and thin. He uses an inside-out swing and his quick hands to attack the baseball. But he still does have some power, according to Swope.

“We’ve worked hard to try and get more square because he does have random power,” Swope said. “He hit a home run at Wake Forest for us last year in the regional that was a bomb.”

Chris Hacopian stands just two inches shorter than Eddie Hacopian, but has more muscle and power to his build than his brother. Chris Hacopian is much more of a pull hitter and uses his big frame to hit powerful line drives.

“I think that’s more of a product of where he stands on the plate,” Swope said on why Chris pulls the ball. “ If you watch video of him, he stands directly on a plate. So he makes almost everything middle-in.” 

The two brothers also share two different personalities, according to Swope.

“Eddie is a little bit more outgoing. He’s joyful, he’s playful, he’s funny, he’s quirky,” Swope said. “Chris is a little bit more quiet [and] keeps to himself. He means business.”

Swope coaches the two brothers very differently as a result of their differences.

Swope said he’s harder on Eddie Hacopian than he is on the younger brother because of Eddie Hacopian’s more playful personality, needing to make sure he stays focused. With Chris Hacopian, Swope said he’s sometimes too competitive and needs to make sure he’s not too hard on himself.

For the Hacopian brothers, playing together at Maryland has been a dream come true. Everything came full circle in the team’s home opener at Bob Turtle Smith Stadium.

Chris Hacopian stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the first inning with his brother on second and his family in the stands. The moment wasn’t too big for him, as he stayed calm and composed to rope a double down line drive down the left field line. 

The base hit allowed Eddie Hacopian to score from second. One brother drove the other home for the first time. Certainly not the last.