Photo courtesy of Maryland Terrapins
Sophomore Chris Hacopian stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning with the game tied at one. Senior Elijah Lambros stood at second base—the Terps couldn’t afford to leave any more runners on base.
Hacopian hit an RBI double to the wall in left field, scoring Lambros. That was all Maryland (12-11, 2-3 Big Ten) needed, beating the Washington Huskies (10-14, 3-2) 2-1 in a pitchers battle.
Freshman Logan Hastings took the start for the Terps. Hastings has been all over the place in the pitching rotation for the Terps this season. He started in three of his six appearances so far for the Terps pitching in 20.2 innings with a 4.79 ERA.
Hastings had his best start of his collegiate career going 7.2 innings and only letting up three hits and one earned run.
“Hats off to Logan Hastings, just an elite start, just keep them off balance all day. Wouldn’t really be in that position without him so all the credit really goes to him,” head coach Matt Swope said, who made sure to credit his freshman for the start.
Hastings struggled with walks earlier in the season, typically pitching around the strike zone, letting people on base and running up his pitch count. On Saturday he made sure to pound the strike zone, only walking his final batter, and ending the game with six strikeouts.
The best outing from a Maryland pitcher so far, a truly dominant performance that led the Terps to a low-scoring win.
On the other hand, senior Jackson Thomas started the game for the Huskies. The senior bounced around the starting role before he faced the Terps, starting three of his five appearances. Thomas entered the game with a 2.42 ERA in 22.1 innings pitched.
Thomas pitched five innings only allowing four hits, three walks, and one earned run. He was the other half of a great pitcher’s duel.
One thing he didn’t do quite as well as Hastings’ was keeping his pitch count low; he got to 94 pitches after the fifth inning and was replaced with junior Isaac Yeager. Yeager would take the loss for the game after allowing the run to Lambros.
The Terps’ defense also contributed to the low-scoring affair, making zero errors, which has been a problem for them. They were able to track down any ball hit in the infield, which made it much harder on offense when they had to really work for their hits.
“Defense did a great job today, I mean [Brayden Martin’s] diving play in the first, [Elijah Lambros] running everything down in center, it makes it really easy to play. Knowing I don’t have to be perfect, you know I can pitch contact, my guys behind me have me. It’s great knowing it’s not one against one, it’s nine against one out there,” Hastings said.
Redshirt sophomore Hollis Porter was responsible for the only other run in the game with a solo shot that just cleared the fence in the fourth inning. Porter has been on fire in the home run column as of late with a home run in three of their last four games.
Both starting pitchers had their only lapses in the fourth inning as Hastings let up his only run of the game as well on a sac-fly by redshirt sophomore Colton Bower that brought home senior AJ Guerrero.
Sophomore Joey McMannis came into the game for the Terps in the bottom of the eighth with two runners on base and two outs. McMannis pitched the final four outs and racked up his second save of the season.
In the bottom of the ninth, he allowed two base runners with one out before a controversial play. With two strikes in the at-bat, a low pitch was initially called foul-tip, and because Alex Calarco didn’t catch the ball it would have kept the at-bat going.
The play was changed to a strike, giving McMannis his first strike-out. Washington head coach Eddie Smith was irate after the game following the play. McMannis made sure to capitalize on it though, striking the last batter out in three pitches.
For the first time all season, the defensive side was the main reason for the Terps to get a win.
On the offensive side though the Terps ended the game with ten batters left on base which is growing into a problem for the Terps. That is something that Swope has continued to harp on to the guys.
“We just got to push through, we just got to continue to fight and push through, and like I said when things aren’t necessarily going right or they’re up and down you gotta will it to happen and keep it going,” Swope said.
The Terps look to ride this momentum for Sunday’s series-deciding game at 4 p.m. The Terps have as good of a chance as ever to get their first three-game-series win of the season.
