Maryland’s offense struggled in 2-1 loss to Boston College

Photo courtesy of Chris Lyons/Maryland Athletics

After Maryland rallied late to tie the game, Nick Wang wasted no time ending it. He jumped on an early pitch from Andrew Johnson and belted his first home run since Mar. 16 to walk it off.

The walk-off home run prevented Maryland (34-19, 10-11 Big Ten) from completing the sweep against Boston College (22-27, 8-19 ACC), falling 2-1 in Brighton, Massachusetts.

Joey McMannis was out with an illness, leaving Sunday’s starting pitching spot vacant. But the Terps had options after using just four total pitchers in Saturday’s doubleheader.

Matt Swope elected to give Evan Smith his second start of the season. His only other start lasted just 2.1 innings on Apr. 23 against James Madison.

The Eagles fell behind in both games on Saturday, but quickly pulled ahead Sunday. A two-out double off the left field wall from Nick Wang scored Cameron Leary, giving the Eagles a one-run lead in the opening frame.

That is the only run the Eagles had against Smith as he settled in for a collegiate-best six innings pitched. The freshman allowed just five base runners and did so by getting ahead in counts with several called first strikes. That allowed Smith to keep the count in his favor and force weak contact.

Despite scoring 13 runs in 15 combined innings on Saturday, Maryland’s offense struggled to string hits together on Sunday. With five outs left for the Terps to mount a comeback, Chris Hacopian tied the game with one swing. 

The home run is Hacopian’s 14th of the season and puts him three away from tying Jason Maxey’s freshman home run record set in 2002.

Hacopain’s bat has been crucial for Maryland’s offensive success, scoring three of five RBIs in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader and scoring its lone run on Sunday.

Maryland’s offense was stagnant all series, scoring just five times across 24 innings. This didn’t affect the Terps in Saturday’s doubleheader, but just one run would not be enough to defeat the Eagles.

Maryland has just three games remaining in its schedule, and those final games will determine its Big Ten tournament fate. The Terps currently share the same conference record with Ohio State at 10-11, and both teams’ final series is against Big Ten opponents.

Maryland will play Penn State at home, while Ohio State will travel to Rutgers for its final three games.

Wang’s home run snapped Maryland’s four-game win streak and Boston College’s eight-game losing streak. The Terps open their regular-season finale against Penn State, starting on Thursday at 6 p.m.