COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Terps starter Joey McMannis looked at his wrist to get the sign. McMannis’ struggled in the inning allowing five runs to score without recording an out. The sophomore right hander got ahead in the count to UCLA first baseman Malivai Levu, but Levu battled back to even the count. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Levu continued a disastrous second inning for Maryland.     

Terps center fielder Elijah Lambros took three steps toward the center field wall, stopped, and looked up, tracking Levu’s hit through the air. Lambros could only watch as the ball flew over the batter’s eye in center field.

Levu’s three run homer was the loudest hit of an 11-run second inning for UCLA that propelled the Bruins (12-4, 2-1 Big Ten) to a 11-5 win over Maryland (8-7, 1-2 Big Ten) in the rubber match of the weekend series. The win secured UCLA’s first Big Ten series victory in its inaugural season in the conference.

McMannis’ day ended after the Levu at-bat. McMannis struggled to find the strike zone all afternoon, throwing only 30 strikes out of the 56 pitches offered to the plate and walking two batters. The lack of control resulted in him routinely falling behind in the count and having to battle his way back into at-bats allowing UCLA hitters to predict pitch type and location. 

That’s exactly how the Bruins dominant second inning started. 

McMannis fell behind in the count to the first two UCLA batters — Blake Balsz and Roman Martin — resulting in back to back singles to start the inning. Next, right fielder AJ Salgado drove a ground ball to the right side of the infield that Brayden Martin slid to stop. The play saved a run, but loaded the bases. 

McMannis walked the following batter, scoring the first run of the game and leaving the bases loaded for second baseman Phoenix Call. Call ripped a grounder down the third base line. Eddie Hacopian moved to field the hard hit, but the ball bounced off his glove and into foul territory behind third base. The hit drove in two.

Similar defensive struggles allowed the next pair of UCLA runs to score. The next batter Dean West stepped to the plate with a hit already under his belt. West lofted McMannis’ 2-1 pitch high in the air to shallow left field. Jacob Orr sprinted in to make the play but was blinded by the sun and the ball landed just right of his outstretched glove.

McMannis’ finished his shortest career outing — one inning — allowing seven earned runs and six hits, three of them for extra bases.

“[We] just got to get a better start, it’s as simple as that,” said head coach Matt Swope. “We had a couple plays defensively, but the game was pretty much out of hand from there.” 

Maryland turned to Brayden Ryan to record its first out of the second inning and he did so against the first batter he faced. Ryan had his own struggles in the inning allowing three more Bruin runs to score, but he persevered to get Maryland’s bats back to the plate. 

The Terps’ lineup scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the third with a two out double to left field by Aden Hill. Hill drove in Maryland’s second run of the game in the fifth with a single to the same place. Hill finished the weekend with six hits and three RBI.

“He was hitting some balls hard earlier in the year and just wasn’t necessarily falling,” said Swope. “Things are kind of turning the tide with him a little bit.”

Maryland’s lineup plucked away at the Bruins’ lead with RBI hits from Martin and Michael Iannazzo, but couldn’t push across enough to mount a surmountable comeback attempt. The Terps finished the game with 11 hits, five walks, and 13 runners left on base. 

The lack of offensive production from the Big Ten’s second highest scoring lineup wasted a marvelous performance from the Terps bullpen. Maryland’s relief arms didn’t allow another run through the rest of the game, getting strong performances from six different pitchers. 

“Good job by the bullpen, but again like, I mean, they’re kind of up 11 to one, you know, they’re going to coast a little bit there,” said Swope. “Again, like have those guys build on that and see what happens when it matters.” 

Maryland will try and rebound against No. 9 Virginia on Tuesday in its first of two mid-week games.