The bases were loaded, two outs were on the scoreboard, and the Iowa transfer Sam Hojnar stood in the left handed batter’s box. Hojnar looked at ball one and on the second offering from Nick Remy, Hojnar swung. Hojnar looped a single that landed at the feet of the UMBC left fielder scoring Martin from third and the pinch runner Michael Iannazzo from second.
Hojnar performed in true Cardiac Terps fashion, walking it off in the bottom of the ninth.
The Terps (20-9, 3-3 Big Ten) beat the UMBC Retrievers (11-14, 3-3 America East), 13-12, Wednesday night.
Hojnar was three for six on the night, driving in six of Maryland’s 13 runs. Hojnar’s three hits were all singles.
“[I’m] focused on getting my right pitch and trusting the speed of my hands,” said Hojnar. “Just trusting the process and trusting that my swing is going to work and so it worked today.”
The come from behind victory is one of many for Maryland this season which has earned them the nickname “Cardiac Terps”. Maryland has grown accustomed to persevering in the end and coming away with the win.
“The guys never believe that they’re down. They proved that again [with] five runs in the last two innings,” said head coach Matt Swope. “Each guy just handing it off, not trying to do too much like an elite, elite comeback right there at the end.”
Maryland fans in attendance didn’t expect the Terps to need a walkoff to win this game after the Terps led, 7-0, after the first two innings and had a four run advantage after the third.
Maryland’s offense was dominant in the first three innings scoring eight of its 13 runs in the first three frames. The majority of those runs came in the second inning in which Maryland tallied six runs.
Maryland batted around in the second with Jacob Orr registering two plate appearances in the inning. Orr’s first plate appearance sparked the Terps’ offensive onslaught with him reaching second base on an error. Calarco dove into first base in the next at-bat to earn an infield single putting runners on the corners for Devin Russell who scored Orr with a sacrifice fly.
Elijah Lambros came up next and blasted a high fly ball that squeaked over the wall in left center, his fourth home run of the season. Half of the runs in the inning came from the bottom four in the lineup. The top of the lineup, not wishing to be outdone, scored the other three off the bats of Sam Hojnar and Kevin Keister.
The second inning took a long time to end which may have contributed to the rough third inning Maryland’s starter, Ryan Van Buren, had to endure.
Van Buren couldn’t make it out of the third inning after allowing only one baserunner through the first two innings. The third started with a double into the right center gap for Luke Trythall and then a couple of walks followed to load the bases with one out. The Retrievers scored their four runs on three singles hit by Taylor, Anthony Swenda, and Nico Ong. Swenda’s single plated two. UMBC’s four run inning cut the Terps lead in half.
Andrew Johnson got the final out of the inning ending Van Buren’s day with two and two thirds innings pitched. He allowed five hits and four earned runs while walking two and striking out four.
The Terps offense went dormant after the third inning. UMBC retired the next ten Maryland batters in order, keeping the Terps scoreless through the middle innings. The Retrievers took advantage of the slumping Terrapins scoring a run in the fourth and three in the sixth to tie the game, 8-8, going to the seventh.
UMBC took the lead in the top of the seventh on a grand slam from center fielder Justin Taylor. Taylor blasted the third pitch from Trystan Sarcone deep into the left fielder corner. The ball was slicing toward foul territory the second it left the bat, but the ball stayed fair just long enough to ricochet off the foul pole.
Maryland cut that lead to two with a pair of runs in the eighth and then after an RBI single from Chris Hacopian, Hojnar ended the game.
The win ends a two game slide for the Terps after dropping their last two games against Michigan in last weekend’s Big Ten series.
The Terps will stay home and play their weekend series against Indiana in College Park this weekend.
