Maryland baseball blows lead late in disappointing 6-5 loss to Washington

With two outs and runners on the corners, Sam Hojnar looked to deliver a hit for his team and extend the game for Maryland baseball.

But the Iowa transfer couldn’t deliver, striking out. The Terps suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Huskies as a result, blowing a two-run lead in the eighth inning to fall to Washington Sunday afternoon, 6-5.

The Huskies (2-3-1) got five of their six runs from home runs, and a three-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning allowed them to seal the game in the ninth. Maryland (5-2) only scored runs in two of the nine innings despite its five-run output, and when it mattered most, the Terps couldn’t score in the final frame.

“Too many freebies today,” coach Matt Swope said. “ I didn’t think we were good enough offensively regardless today. Their starter did a good job keeping us off balance, and we knew what he was gonna do; we just couldn’t combat it besides that big hit from Brayden [Martin].”

Despite the loss, Maryland still took two out of three games in the Kleberg Bank College Classic.

The Terps’ starting pitcher in the game was Meade Johnson. Walks hurt Johnson in his last start, and a walk in the early frame against Washington allowed the Huskies to get on the board early with a ground out to shortstop.

Aiva Arquette registered his second RBI of the game in the fourth inning with a solo home run to left field. Johnson continued his free-pass issues in the frame, walking the bases loaded with two outs, but a groundout ended the threat and limited the damage to just one run.

Johnson ended his outing with five walks, but still rebounded nicely in his second start of the season. The junior pitched four innings, allowing two runs on just three hits.

Johnson was relieved by Garrett French, who allowed a solo home run to Michael Brown — Washington’s second home run of the game — in the sixth inning with a blast into the pool.

The Terps appeared that they would get through the eighth inning, holding a two-run lead, but consecutive two-out walks followed by a Blake Wilson three-run home run to left field gave the Huskies their first lead since the early frame. Wilson’s blast resulted in the deciding hit.

Maryland had a big second inning last game against Pittsburgh, and it continued that trend against Washington. Two walks allowed the Terps to load the bases, and Martin ripped the first pitch he saw into left-center field to clear the bases and give the Terps an early two-run lead.

But Huskies starting pitcher Spencer Dessart was unfazed by Maryland’s big frame, as he retired 14 consecutive batters to put his team in a great position to cut into their deficit. Dessart went 6.2 innings pitched, allowing five runs off just three hits on 91 pitches. 

“I don’t think we’ve reached our peak offensively yet,” Swope said. We’ll have some good innings and then some lulls…we’re still trying to find our identity a little bit there, so we’ll just keep trying to take it one day at a time.”

Dessart was charged with two runs when Washington’s bullpen gave the Terps a 5-3 lead in the top of the seventh on an Eddie Hacopian two-run single.

The Terps looked to extend the game in the ninth inning with Hojnar at the plate, now trailing after Wilson’s go-ahead home run. But his strikeout sealed Maryland’s fate.

The Terps will look to rebound on Tuesday when they take on Georgetown at home at 4 p.m.