Maryland baseball clinches series win with 7-1 victory over Georgia Southern

With two outs and only one hit in the top of the third inning, Chris Hacopian looked to get the Maryland offense going. 

Hacopian did just that, blasting the ball over the left-field fence to give the Terps an early two-run lead.

“Just pure excitement,” Hacopian said.“[I’m] so happy to help my team … and help them win.”

Maryland baseball never relinquished its lead following Hacopian’s home run. The Terps clinched Matt Swope’s first weekend series win with a 7-1 victory over Georgia Southern (0-2) Saturday afternoon.

The Terps (2-0) have been backed by strong pitching in their first two games of the season. Friday night featured Kenny Lippman and Logan Berrier, and Saturday, it was Logan Koester and Joey McMannis. Koester allowed just one run on three hits through four innings. McMannis picked up right where Koester left off as he went four innings, allowing just one hit and no runs. The freshman would also notch his first two strikeouts of his collegiate career. 

“The pitching was tremendous, they dominated throughout,” Swope said. “It’s not easy to come in and have your debut with a new team, and to see all three guys without any nerves just pounding the zone was great to see, especially Joey McMannis, who’s a freshman.”

Offensively, Maryland continued to get production from the bottom of its lineup. Four of the Terps’ seven runs came from their six, eight and nine hitters.

The game began with both starters in control, with no hits through the first two innings. Then Jacob Orr notched the first hit of the game in the third inning in an unconventional way. 

Third baseman Jarrett Brown attempted to let Orr’s swinging bunt go foul, but it snuck down the third base line for an infield single. Hacopian took advantage with his two-run home run.

The Terps added on the next inning. After a double play nearly ruined a bases-loaded, no-out scoring chance, Elijah Lambros mustered a run with a single to left to score Eddie Hacopian and extend Maryland’s lead to 3-0.

“I think we could’ve scored a little bit more,” Swope said. “We had the bases loaded three times, and [we] were able to push just one across.”

The Eagles finally broke through against Koester in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sean Smith started the frame with a first-pitch single to left, scoring one at-bat later on a Brown double down the third base line.

The Terps responded in the sixth by loading the bases with two outs, where Orr delivered again — this time with his plate discipline instead of his bat. Orr took a four-pitch walk to bring home a run, extending his side’s lead to 4-1.

Maryland tacked on a run in the top of the eighth with an RBI sacrifice bunt by Lambros. A solo blast to right off the bat of Alex Calarco and an Eddie Hacopian sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth blew the game open to its final score of 7-1.

The Terps will look to secure the series sweep in their first series of the season on Sunday.