Maryland baseball nearly collapses, defeats UMBC, 13-12 

Maryland baseball was down to its final out at Bob Turtle Smith Stadium. Sam Hojnar was the last hope for the Terps to avoid a colossal collapse — they blew the 7-0 lead they held after two innings.

Hojnar stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded, with Maryland trailing by one run. The redshirt senior delivered. He drove a 1-0 pitch into shallow left field to score two runs and save the Terps from an horrendous defeat.

Maryland’s pitching continued to struggle, but the Terps notched another late-inning victory on Wednesday, pulling through 13-12. The win was Maryland’s 11th time this season it’s secured a comeback win and the ninth time this season it’s won in its final at-bat.

“An elite comeback,” coach Matt Swope said. “The guys never believe that they’re down [and] they proved that again. Five runs in the last two innings.”

The bullpen continued to hurt Maryland (21-8) in its series against Michigan — allowing 14 runs over the three-game series — and continued to be a nuisance against UMBC (10-15), allowing eight runs over the final 6.1 innings. But the offense came through at the end to avoid the loss.

“[The bullpen’s] just got to be better on attacking,” Swope said. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve pitched 20 innings or you pitch no innings. It doesn’t matter if it’s raining. Doesn’t matter if it’s 80 degrees. You got to be ready to seize the opportunity when you get your chance.”

The Terps claimed an early lead. Hojnar gave them a productive out on a high-chopping ground ball to first base in the bottom of the first, scoring Brayden Martin from third.

Maryland ballooned its advantage the following inning, as the Terps took advantage of some mental lapses by the Retrievers. 

Another productive out — this time on a sacrifice fly — from Devin Russell doubled the lead. The Terps’ bats then officially got going, as Elijah Lambros blasted his second home run in as many games. Back-to-back run-scoring hits from Hojnar and Kevin Keister gave Maryland a 7-0 lead.

Hojnar entered the game hot with a 8-16 line over his last four games. He continued to swing the bat well for the Terps, going 3-6 with six RBIs.

After each game, Swope gives each player a scorecard showing them how they did at the plate and whether they were swinging at strikes and taking good approaches.

“It’s been huge,” Hojnar said on the scorecards. “It’s been really helpful for me in terms of seeing what pitches I’m swinging at and where they are in the zone and being able to adjust my approach and my zone based on what I thought was a strike and what was actually strike on the scorecard.”

An Eddie Hacopian RBI hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the third added another run for Maryland’s offense.

The Terps’ offense was stymied when relief pitcher Eddie Sargent took over in the fourth inning, allowing the Retrievers to take the lead late. Sargent consistently made quick work of Maryland’s bats, issuing no hits and retiring ten of the 11 batters he faced through three innings pitched. 

But the Terps’ offense rallied late when needed. They struck for two in the eighth inning and three in the ninth — capped off with Hojnar’s walk-off.

Sargent’s excellence allowed UMBC’s offense to climb back and eventually take the lead. 

The Terps’ starting pitcher Ryan Van Buren failed to go five innings in his second consecutive appearance after going at least five frames in all other performances. Wednesday was Van Buren’s worst outing, allowing four runs in just 2.2 innings.

Maryland failed to secure any momentum it gained after its big second inning. Van Buren struggled to find the strike zone in the top of the third after showing excellent command in his prior two frames, allowing the Retrievers to work their way back into the game with a four-run third inning.

Justin Taylor got the big frame started with an RBI base hit up the middle. Then, a pair of two-out ground ball singles from Anthony Swenda and Nico Ong pulled UMBC to within three.

Taylor wasn’t done at the plate, adding another run in the fourth inning. He scorched a line drive over the head of a jumping Chris Hacopian down the left field line.

The Retrievers officially tied the game with one swing of the bat in the sixth frame, as Matt Ryan crushed a gargantuan three-run home run to left field. Ryan immediately flipped his bat and watched the ball hit the varsity team house as the contest reached a tie score of 8-8. 

Taylor ripped a grand slam off the left-field foul pole in the top of the seventh to push UMBC in front. But the Retrievers’ offense slowed down enough over the final two frames to allow for the Terps to avoid a crushing loss.