Maryland second baseman Brayden Martin ran to his right side with his eyes trained on the ground ball hit up the middle by Virginia right fielder Henry Ford. It appeared Martin and shortstop Chris Hacopian were headed for a collision as the middle infield duo attempted to intercept the grounder. Martin evaded his running mate and fielded the ball barehanded, completing the play by throwing to first in time for the out.
The dazzling display allowed the winning run to advance to third base, but put the Terps an out away from escaping disaster and evading a walk-off. Following a walk to center fielder Aidan Teel, Omar Melendez bounced his first offering to Harrison Didawack before the plate. The ball caromed off the dirt and Calarco’s chest protector all the way to the backstop of Virginia Credit Union Stadium.
Henry Godbout jogged home delivering No. 23 Virginia (10-5, 1-2 ACC) with a 7-6 walk-off victory over Maryland (8-8, 1-2 Big Ten) in the teams’ first meeting in ten years.
“Tough way to lose,” head coach Matt Swope said.
The manner of the Cavaliers’ victory was a bit poetic, considering how the Terps managed to extend the game a half inning earlier.
Maryland entered the top of the ninth trailing by three runs. Elijah Lambros — a Fredericksburg, Virginia, native — started the inning with a strikeout but was picked up by Martin who singled in the subsequent at-bat. Following an Eddie Hacopian walk, Chris Hacopian doubled in a run. Alex Calarco grounded out in the next at-bat driving in E. Hacopian and moving C. Hacopian to third with two outs.
Virginia reliever Ryan Osinski’s next pitch bounced in the dirt and to the backstop. C. Hacopian touched home and the Terps lived to fight another half inning.
“I’m proud of the way the guys battled,” said Swope. “It was a good baseball game. They’re a good team, again, just a tough way to lose.”
Half of Maryland’s runs came in that late inning rally.
Lambros started the scoring in the third inning with an RBI triple driving in designated hitter Michael Iannazzo with his first at-bat. The lineup was dormate the next two innings, but scored twice in the top of the sixth building a two run advantage.
Virginia countered Maryland’s runs with three of its own in the bottom half of the inning.
Teel and Didawack started the inning with back to back walks against Maryland’s freshman starter Jake Yeager. Fellow freshman Cristofer Cespedes relieved Yeager following the walks.
Cespedes got the next two outs for the Terps although a run scored during his appearance — charged to Yeager — because of an error by C. Hacopian at short. When lefty hitting shortstop Eric Becker stepped to the plate, Swope brought in southpaw Andrew Johnson for a better matchup.
Johnson entered the game following a back and forth weekend against UCLA. He gave up a go-ahead home run in Maryland’s extra inning loss on Friday, but pitched a scoreless inning in Sunday’s contest. The Terps were hoping to see Sunday’s pitcher, but instead got Friday’s.
Becker hit Johnson’s 1-0 offering into center field, scoring both Cavalier runners. The single wiped away any Maryland momentum as well as its lead.
“I talk about moments all the time and [in] most of these situations right now we’re just not winning the moments,” Swope said.
Johnson’s struggles continued into the bottom of the eighth.
The senior reliever faced junior Luke Hanson an out away from giving Maryland’s bats a chance to either tie or take the lead in the ninth. Hanson — who entered as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning — wasted no time belting Johnson’s inaugural pitch of the at-bat to the concourse in left field. Hanson’s first home run of the season plated two and increased Virginia’s lead to three.
Maryland’s struggles in the game are a microcosm of its faults this season. The lineup left nine runners in scoring position and compiled only four hits with runners on base. The Terps’ defense committed two errors and the bullpen allowed three earned runs — four runs total — wasting another good performance from their starter.
Yeager threw a career high 84 pitches while navigating through a powerful Virginia lineup that put ten runners on against him. He only allowed one earned run.
“I thought he was really good,” said Swope. “As you learn though, we have a long inning there, you’re pitching really well, but you can’t come back in that sixth inning and walk the first two guys, you know, and then we have an error or two and just again that’s the story of the game.”
The Dirty Terps will have to put the loss behind them quickly because they welcome Mount St. Mary’s to College Park on Wednesday in their second mid-week game.
