Maryland’s offense explodes in 11-2 win over Nebraska

Photo courtesy of Chris Lyons/Maryland Athletics

After going 0-4 and snapping his 11-game hit streak on Friday, Eddie Hacopian climbed into the batter’s box to lead off the game and smoked a first-pitch fastball over the heart of the plate.

Hacopian shook his bat in excitement and emphatically yelled towards the Maryland bench as the ball sailed over the left-field fence.

“I was just pissed off,” Hacopian said. “I was pissed off from last night, I was pissed off from the fans chirping me and… I told [the team] first pitch, I’m gonna hammer something.”

The home run set the tone for the rest of the afternoon as Maryland baseball (25-15, 6-8 Big Ten) hit three home runs in an 11-2 victory over Nebraska (24-12, 7-4) in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Saturday.

Jacob Orr ensured a big first inning for the Terps, adding a two-RBI base hit into center field

Maryland scored three runs in Friday’s matchup, but the Terps matched that total in the opening frame of Saturday’s game. 

The Terps continued to add to their lead in the following inning as a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly extended Maryland’s lead to 5-0. 

In all of Mason McConnaughey’s prior starts, he pitched a minimum of five innings, but the sacrifice fly ended his start. The sophomore’s fifth earned run marked a career-high in runs and a career-low 1.2 innings pitched as a starter.

The Maryland offense continued to hit against Nebraska’s bullpen and blew the game open in the sixth inning. A pair of home runs from Elijah Lambros and Sam Hojnar spotted the Terps five runs, extending Maryland’s lead to 11-1.

The bottom of the order played a pivotal role in Saturday’s game as they delivered key RBIs. Maryland’s bottom three hitters finished the game 6-10, scoring five runs and driving in four RBIs.

There was confusion about who would start on Saturday after Kenny Lippman was moved from his weekend starter role to the bullpen. Coach Matt Swope elected to give Omar Melendez his first Big Ten start, and the left-hander looked like a seasoned veteran.

“As a starter, you can warm up [and] you have a set routine,” Melendez said on the difference between starting and coming from the bullpen. “I feel like that’s something that helped me today.”

Melendez was in control of his location all game, striking out six batters and inducing a lot of weak contact. The junior surrendered just two runs and pitched a season-high six innings.

“Omar [Melendez] did enough [by] working ahead and keeping them off-balance all day,” Swope said. “He’s a seasoned veteran. He’s got a lot of experience starting, and he gave us the spark that we needed today.

After three scoreless innings, Ben Columbus gave Nebraska its first run, smoking his second solo home run in as many days over the right-center field fence to cut the deficit to 6-1.

Columbus went 3-for-3 in Friday’s game and continued his strong series, finishing Saturday’s game 2-for-3 and delivering the only two RBIs for Nebraska.

The Cornhuskers would add another run late in the game, but it made no difference as Maryland won in blowout fashion, giving the team an opportunity to win the series on Sunday.

“Just play clean,” Swope said on what the team needs to do to win on Sunday. “Punch them in the mouth again and play clean.”

The win evens the weekend series against Nebraska and sets the stage for Sunday’s series finale at 2:05 p.m.