Photo courtesy of Maryland Terrapins
In the bottom of the ninth in a tie game, senior Omar Melendez was on the mound with two outs and a runner on third base. A pitch slipped through his hands, and the game slipped through Maryland’s, as a wild pitch brought home junior Henry Godbout and the Cavaliers took the game 7-6.
The Maryland Terrapins (8-8, 1-2 Big Ten) were looking at a huge opportunity for a bounce-back game after a 1-2 weekend in their Big Ten opener against UCLA, but going on the road at Fredericksburg to face the No. 23 Virginia Cavaliers (10-5) was too tall of a task as the Terps’ fall to the preseason No. 2 team.
Freshman Jake Yeager took the start on the mound for the Terps. Only his third appearance of the year.
Yeager played in two midweek games prior to this start. He split the two going 1-1, and pitched nine total innings, ending with an ERA of five.
He pitched his best outing of the season, pitching into the sixth inning and ending the game with three earned runs, one strikeout, five hits and five walks.
“Really happy about what he’s done so far and I think it’s going to bode well for him, putting up good starts against really good teams,” said head coach Matt Swope on Yeager’s performance at the start of the year.
Yeager went back into the game in the sixth inning despite ending the fifth with 71 pitches. He was taken out after he walked his first two batters. Both those batters turned into earned runs after the Cavaliers scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Virginia’s starter on the other hand was Bradley Hodges, who is playing his first game of the season, and starting for only the second time in his career. The junior is coming back from Tommy John surgery and missed most of the 2024 season. In his freshman campaign, however, he pitched 33.1 innings with a 4.32 ERA.
His pitch count was limited in his first game back, ending with only 34 pitches in two innings pitched. He ended with three strikeouts, two runs, and earned a run after his exit in the third.
Senior Elijah Lambros, a Fredericksburg native, scored the first run of the game with an RBI triple in the third inning.
Lambros played in the first-ever game in the Fredericksburg Nats’ Virginia Credit Union Stadium, where Tuesday’s game is being held, back when he was a senior at Fredericksburg Christian School in 2021.
The Cavaliers used eight pitchers in their only midweek game this week, making sure to watch their pitch counts. Each of their pitchers made sure to pound the strike zones totaling eight strikeouts in the first four innings.
The Cavaliers got their first run in the bottom of the fourth inning after getting runners on first and third. They scored after first base base-runner freshman James Nunnallee got in a run down trying to steal second, and junior Harrison Didawick went home and scored before the tag.
The Terps had their next chance for runs in the top of the sixth inning. The inning saw four different base runners for the Terps, an RBI sac fly from senior Jacob Orr and an RBI single from redshirt sophomore Hollis Porter.
Sophomore Michael Iannazzo also got on base in the inning after a scary hit-by-pitch to the face. He was able to walk off the field but was not able to return to the game.
Swope kept it blunt when asked about Iannazzo after the game, “It’s not good.” There’s no timetable on Iannazzo’s injury yet.
The bottom of the sixth was a problem for the Terps’ defense. After the two walks by Yeager, freshman Cristofer Cespedes entered the game.
Cespedes pitched well in the three batters he faced. He got two out, and the other resulted in a sophomore Chris Hacopian fielding error which drove home a run.
Then the Terps turned to left-handed pitcher, senior Andrew Johnson, to give UVA’s sophomore Eric Becker a left-on-left matchup.
Becker then took the second pitch he saw and hit a two-RBI double into center field, giving UVA a 4-3 lead.
This was Johnson’s ninth appearance of the season. Coming into this game he pitched ten innings with an ERA of 5.40. Johnson finished the game with 2.1 innings pitched, with two earned runs, and two strikeouts.
The left side of the infield with Chris and senior Eddie Hacopian has had a rough start to the season, as the sibling duo have ten total errors on the season.
“Can’t come back in that sixth inning and walk the first two guys, and then we have an error or two, and again that’s the story of the game, versus really good teams they’re going to make you pay for that, and they did,” said Swope.
The Cavaliers added to their lead in the bottom of the eighth inning as junior Luke Hanson hit a two-run home run with two outs.
The Terps couldn’t score between the sixth and the ninth inning despite plenty of base runners. Double plays were a big cause as the Cavaliers’ defense converted three double plays.
The ‘Cardiac Terps’ owned up to their nickname in the top of the ninth. Sophomore Brayden Martin started it with a one-out single, followed by an Eddie Hacopian walk.
Chris Hacopian then got an RBI double in the following at-bat, bringing Martin home, and his brother to third base. Senior Alex Calarco followed that up with a RBI ground-out, and Chris Hacopian got home off a wild pitch to tie the game 6-6.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Cavaliers took back the lead in a similar fashion– a two-out wild pitch.
Junior Aden Hill followed up his strong game on Sunday with another great outing. He got on base on all but one of his at-bats. He hit 1-for-3 but got on base after an error and added two walks. He has been able to get on base reliably for the Terps.
Chris Hacopian had one of his best games this season as a batter, hitting 2-for-4, including the huge RBI-double, and added a walk. However, it was not enough.
“Tough way to go, pretty good game overall,” said Swope, “proud of the way the guys built it up in the ninth.”
The Terps now look to Wednesday where they will host Mount St. Mary’s for the second half of the back-to-back midweek games.
