Photo courtesy of Ian Cox/Maryland Terrapins
UCLA’s redshirt junior Ian May was struggling through the first two innings, he entered the third inning with thirty-nine pitches, where his day took an even worse turn.
The Terps (8-6, 1-1 Big Ten) took him deep three times in the third inning, forcing him out of the game and building a lead, they wouldn’t relinquish. They rode the tide of a seven-run third inning and took the game over UCLA (11-4, 1-1) 13-3 to even the weekend series.
Freshman Logan Hastings got the start on the mound for the Terps, marking his second start and fifth appearance. His first start came against Wake Forest last weekend where he pitched five innings with one earned run. He entered Saturday’s game with 10.1 innings pitched and a 3.48 ERA.
The one big problem with Hastings in his first four appearances was his walks. He would pitch around the strike zone, leave runners on base and run up his pitch count.
However, he found success on Saturday with zero walks through six innings pitched. He also added three strikeouts and allowed nine hits in his ninety-three pitches. He pounded the strike zone, controlled the contact off the Bruin’s bats and limited any explosive hits from the Bruins. Similar to his approach in his first start but did a better job limiting walks.
“When he is pounding the zone and working ahead, he is hard to hit,” said head coach Matt Swope.
“Hastings has been an absolute stud for us all year, and just the way he competes is what you look for in a young guy, we have just been so happy with the way he is going about his business,” said sophomore Chris Hacopian who had lots of praise for his freshman pitcher after the game.
On the other side, May made his fourth start of the year and came into the game with a 3.38 ERA over 13.1 innings pitched.
The Terps started the scoring quickly against May as senior Eddie Hacopian smacked a two-run home run over the center field wall. It came right after a coach’s challenge overturned a pickoff attempt on Elijah Lambros, keeping him on second base. A major swing for the Terps in the bottom of the third.
The reasoning behind the challenge? “I just asked him if he was safe, and he said he was,” said Swope, showing the amount of trust he has in his senior center fielder.
The Terps held the momentum as senior Alex Claraco hit his tenth home run of the season, this one a two-run blast that brought home sophomore Chris Hacopian. This was followed by a rocket to right field by redshirt sophomore Hollis Porter, which gave the Terps a 5-0 lead.
May was taken out of the game after the three home runs. He ended with three strikeouts, three walks, three hits– all being home runs, five earned runs, and a hit by pitch. His worst outing of the season as the Terps offense was all over him.
The scoring continued after an RBI double from sophomore Liam Willson and an RBI single from Lambros. The Terps finished the third inning with a 7-0 lead.
The Terps continued adding on to the lead in the following innings after a two-RBI single from Jacob Orr in the bottom of the fourth, a two-run home run from Chris Hacopian in the bottom of the fifth, and another Willson RBI double to give Maryland thirteen runs.
Willson entered Saturday’s game with only three hits and four RBIs on thirty-five at-bats. He finished with two doubles and two RBIs on four at-bats.
This is Chris Hacopoian’s first series back from an injury that sidelined him in the series against Wake Forest and the midweek game against James Madison.
“Just play my game, you know, just do my things offensively, you know, stick to my process, my routines,” said Chris Hacopian on his mindset while coming back from injury.
The Bruins got their first run in the top of the fifth after a pair of two-out hits. Their leadoff hitter, sophomore Dean West, hit an RBI single. They then doubled their scoring in the top of the sixth where they had four hits, including an RBI single and an RBI groundout.
The game ended on the run rule after the Terps ended the top of the seventh up 13-3. Hastings earned the win for the Terps after pitching six of the seven innings.
The Terps will look to win the conference opening series on Sunday at 12 p.m.
