Maryland’s offense is one of the best in the Big Ten this season boasting the conference’s third most runs scored and total bases. The Terps offense got a little better Friday evening with the return of Chris Hacopian after a four game absence. His presence resulted in one of the game’s pivotal moments.
Chris stood in the right handed batter’s box with one out and the Terps trailing by one. Hacopian didn’t even take a pitch in the at-bat, instead he swung at UCLA hurler Wylan Moss’ first offering and sent a flyball into the night sky. The sound the contact made left little doubt that the ball would land anywhere but behind the fence. Chris’ fourth home run of the season forced the game into extra innings where his dramatic effort proved insignificant.
UCLA (10-4, 1-0 Big Ten) scored six runs in the top of the tenth inning to beat Maryland (7-6, 0-1 Big Ten) in extra innings, 12-6, Friday evening.
The Bruins recorded three hits in the tenth and all three came after Ryan Van Buren retired the first two batters of the inning. Following a walk to Blake Balsz, Moss singled up the middle bringing Phoenix Call to the plate. Call scorched a grounder that bounced off a diving Brayden Martin at second and into right field giving the Bruins the lead.
The biggest hit of the inning came three batters later after two walks loaded the bases for first baseman Mulivai Levu. Levu hit a grand slam over the left field wall, ballooning the Bruins lead to an insurmountable six runs.
The Terps were retired in order in the bottom half of the inning by UCLA reliever Justin Lee, cementing the loss.
“It’s tough,” said head coach Matt Swope. “We got to get a little bit better effort from the back end [of the bullpen] right there.”
Maryland led for most of the game behind a dominant pitching effort from southpaw Kyle McCoy.
McCoy only surrendered one hit through the first four innings while striking out five. The Bruins earned their second hit in the fifth, but it didn’t amount to any runs. McCoy held UCLA scoreless through the sixth.
McCoy struggled in the seventh allowing the first two runners to reach base. Following his eighth strikeout of the game, McCoy gave up an RBI single to Jarrod Hocking that ended his outing. McCoy finished the game pitching six and third innings allowing three earned runs — two of them scoring when Jack Wren followed him in relief — on four hits.
“It was an elite start,” said Swope. “He dominated the game for the most part. Just working ahead like really good stuff. That’s what a Friday guy is supposed to look like.”
Maryland was still leading by two going into the top of the ninth with its closer Andrew Johnson on the mound after relieving Wren with one out in the eighth. Johnson was an out away from completing the five out save when Roch Choloswky squashed the attempt.
Cholowsky entered the game with a team high five home runs and wasted no time making it six. The sophomore shortstop smoked Johnson’s 1-1 fastball deep into left, leaving left fielder Jacob Orr to stand at the wall and watch as the Terps’ lead evaporated.
Maryland’s lineup struggled to score against the Bruins’ bullpen.
The Terps only scored two runs — a Martin RBI walk and Chris’ game tying homer — once UCLA starter Cody Delvecchio exited in the sixth. Most of Maryland’s offense came in the first four innings via a two run home run from Alex Calaraco and solo homer off the bat of Aden Hill.
The Terps will try and put this loss behind them and move on to Saturday with a chance to tie the series at a game apiece.
