Photo courtesy of Grayson Belanger/Maryland Athletics.
The Terrapins lineup that could not generate any offense against the Trojans bullpen the night before was nowhere to be found Saturday evening.
Maryland (9-5, 0-0 B1G) evened up its series with Troy University (6-8, 0-0 SUN), handing the Trojans a 9-3 defeat at home.
Troy kept it close with Maryland for six innings, even taking the lead in the top of the third, but for the rest of the game the Terps offense churned out runs while the Trojans bats remained stagnant.
“We were able to get something going a little bit early today, get on the board,” manager Matt Swope said. “Really good job by our offense sticking out some at-bats.”
Evan Smith pitched a full starter workload for the first time since his injury in 2025, hitting the upper limit of the number of pitches Swope said he was comfortable giving the redshirt sophomore. Last week, Swope said he planned to “bump [Smith] up to 50 or 60” pitches. Smith threw 61 total pitches across four innings, giving up three runs.
Ryan Costello followed up a forgettable five-groundout performance Friday night with a three-hit night punctuated with a stretch double in the top of the ninth. Costello, who is tied for the lead in home runs in the NCAA, continued to be a cornerstone in the Terrapins offense, adding another RBI to his season total.
Aden Hill recorded his first two RBIs of the season Saturday, one of which was a home run. The Terps had relegated Hill to the ninth slot in the batting order after the center fielder posted a batting average of .167, leading the team in strikeouts at the plate. Hill’s first at-bat of the game erased Troy’s only lead of the game with a solo home run, tying the game at three. He later padded a large Terps lead with an RBI double, scoring catcher Rylen Stockton.
Despite commanding a six run lead, relief pitcher Logan Hastings pitched three full innings in the Terrapins win. With 47 pitches Saturday night, Hastings could be available Sunday in an emergency save situation should the situation arise. Last week Swope called Hastings the pitcher he “trust[s] the most.”
The Terps and Trojans will play once more Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. to decide the series.
