Maryland baseball puts together late rally to defeat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 7-5

After Eddie Hacopian gave Maryland its first lead since the first inning, Sam Hojnar sought to keep Maryland baseball’s ninth-inning rally going.

Hojnar did that by blasting a towering two-run homerun to right, giving Maryland a three-run advantage. 

The Teps scored six runs in the game’s final three innings, allowing them to sneak past Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the ninth, 7-5.

Both offenses got off to a fast start. A pair of hits from the Hacopian brothers, Chris and Eddie, gave Maryland (4-1) a 1-0 lead in the early frame. But Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-4) immediately responded, thanks to some freebies from the Terps. 

An error from Kevin Keister and a Kenny Lippman walk loaded the bases for the Islanders. Maryland seemed like it would minimize the damage after a double play tied the game, but a single to left field from Logan Vaughan put Texas A&M-Corpus Christi ahead 2-1.

From there, Islander’s pitcher Matthew Watson kept the Terps’ bats silent, allowing just two hits through his next five innings and inducing nine strikeouts.

More miscues in the third allowed the Islanders to expand their lead in the third. Another error from Keister and a double steal by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi put two runners in scoring position with no one out. The Islanders capitalized on a base hit from Garrett Gruell and a sacrifice fly from Vaughn, pushing their lead to 4-1.

Despite giving up four runs, Lippman had a strong outing, going five-plus innings with three strikeouts and only two earned runs. Lippman’s five-plus inning outing continues Maryland’s streak of winning games in which their starting pitcher goes at least four innings pitched. 

Nate Haberthier relieved Lippman after two consecutive walks by Lippman to start the fifth inning. Haberthier pitched well in relief, getting the Terps out two separate bases-loaded jams, one coming in the fifth and the other in the eighth.

The Terps finally broke through against Watson in the seventh inning as a lead-off walk allowed Jacob Orr to drive in Devin Russell on a groundball up the middle, cutting the Islander’s lead in half. Orr now has an RBI in all four of his starts this season.

The single by Orr ended Watson’s night. Watson finished the game with nine strikeouts and allowed three runs off five hits, and three walks through 6.2 innings.

Miscues plagued the Islanders in the seventh after Watson’s night ended as a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases for Maryland. The Terps had struggled so far this season with the bases loaded, but Hojnar’s single to right tied the game for Maryland at four.

Haberthier’s clutch situational pitching allowed the Terps to rally in the ninth. Eddie Hacopian chipped a ball into right field to score Orr from second. Then Hojnar blasted his first home run of the season for his third RBI of the ninth to give Maryland some breathing room with a 7-4 lead.

The Islanders threatened in the bottom of the ninth with two men in scoring position and the tying run at the plate with one out. But Maryland worked its way out of another jam to hold the Islanders to just one run and secure the win.

The Terps will take on Pittsburgh tomorrow at 3 p.m.