Photo courtesy of Ian Cox/Maryland Terrapins
With the game tied at seven, with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, senior Elijah Lambros came up to bat with runners on first and second. He already had a three-run home run in this scenario earlier in the game.
Lambros hits an RBI single and the Maryland Terrapins (11-10, 1-2 Big Ten) continued to break open the game in the bottom of the seventh with two outs.
The bottom of the seventh was enough to get the Terps the win 14-7 against the Georgetown Hoyas (7-14). The Terps were looking for a bounce-back win after two straight losses in the weekend series against South Florida.
Freshman Jake Yeager made another midweek start for the Terps, his third of the season. He started in all three of his appearances with fourteen innings pitched and an ERA of 3.86.
Yeager pitched five innings against No. 23 Virginia in his last outing where he finished with only one earned run but did allow five hits and five walks.
The freshman went about his business as normal as he pitched in the zone, allowing contact and getting through innings with pop-outs, flyouts, and groundouts. Yeager pitched a short outing with only three innings pitched, allowing three earned runs and three hits–one of which was a home run, and a walk, while adding a strikeout.
Yeager has been impressive in the midweek slate so far, even with an up-and-down performance in Tuesday’s game, and is taking an early exit to rest into the weekend rotation. Head coach Matt Swope confirmed that Yeager will be getting the start on Sunday against Washington.
The Hoyas came out with sophomore Johan Franco starting on the mound. This was Franco’s fourth start of the year, with ten innings pitched, and a 3.60 ERA, in five total appearances beforehand.
Franco came out of the game hot, only surrendering one run before the fourth inning. The one run came from a solo home run by redshirt sophomore Hollis Porter.
In that fourth inning, the Terps’ bats came to life after Lambors hit a three-run home run. The inning continued when junior Brayden Martin got an RBI single that brought home senior Eddie Hacopian. Martin later got home after a Porter RBI single in the same inning, bringing the score to 6-4.
Eddie Hacopian and Martin switched their batting position as Martin, who had been the lead-off hitter since the Western Carolina series earlier in the year, switched spots with Eddie Hacopian who had been batting after him for most of the season.
Eddie Hacopian has been struggling as of late, with only four hits in the last six games. The Terrapins have been rotating him around in the rotation trying to get him out of his slump.
It looked like his bat started to come alive as he ended the game hitting 2-for-4 with two hit-by-pitches. He has always been a good base runner, and that hasn’t changed as he scored three of the times he got on base. A big game for Eddie Hacopian who was looking like he needed one.
Franco ended the game with 3.1 innings pitched, 81 pitches, two strikeouts and five hits including two home runs, and four hit-by pitches.
The Hoyas were able to take back the lead after an explosive sixth inning, which got them three runs, all coming with two outs. The Terps tied the game 7-7 at the bottom of the same inning after a sophomore Chris Hacopian sac fly brought home his brother Eddie Hacopian.
The back-and-forth antics ended after the Terps put up five runs in the bottom of the seventh. All five of the runs came with two outs in the inning, starting off with a Lambros RBI single.
“Just having good at-bats […] I don’t care what inning it is or what’s going on, I’m not really paying attention to that I’m just looking more at like, what’s the process, are we having quality at-bats, are we making it tough on the opposing pitcher even when we are not scoring,” Swope said on what factored into the Terps breaking away in the seventh inning.
Chris Hacopian then finished off the scoring with an RBI single that brought home Martin, the Terps extended the lead to 12-7.
Graduate student Devin Milberg came into the game on the mound to close the game, pitching the last three innings. He had the best outing out of the three Terps’ pitchers, ending with only one hit, and zero earned runs.
A problem facing the Terps all year has been the pitchers pitching from behind, “The biggest thing that we have been preaching is guys getting ahead, that’s the name of the game,” Swope said in reference to Milberg, “I think he only had one walk in three innings, when he’s working ahead he can be effective.”
Lambros had a big game from the plate hitting 2-for-3 with four RBIs and a walk. Lambros has been a major part of the Terps’ offense ever since the game at No. 23 Virginia where he really started to come alive.
“He’s trending up and playing better, so if we can continue that I think it just makes the lineup that much tougher,” Swope said.
The Terps will now take a trip to Seattle as they have a three-game weekend series at Washington. A big opportunity for the Terps as they can win their first three-game series of the year and improve their conference record.
