Box Score STATESBORO, GA – Home runs from Chris Hacopian and Alex Calarco along with strong pitching performances by Logan Koester and Joey McMannis led Maryland to a 7-1 win over Georgia Southern at J.I. Clements Stadium on Saturday. The Terps (2-0) took the series by winning the first two games of the opening weekend.
Hacopian's first collegiate home run occurred in the third inning and put Maryland ahead for good. The Terps added single runs in the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth and their pitchers were stellar, escaping several jams, while allowing just four hits.
Alex Calarco blasted his first homer as a Terp in the ninth inning. Chris' brother Eddie Hacopian went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Elijah Lambros drove in two runs and Jacob Orr brought in the Terps' other run. Each of them had a hit. Maryland's other hits came from
Sam Hojnar and
Kevin Keister.
The Terps' pitching staff was strong for the second game in a row. In his Maryland debut, Logan Koester pitched four innings while striking out two batters. He didn't allow a hit until the fourth inning, giving up just one run. Freshman
Joey McMannis also made his debut, coming for Koester as relief and pitching four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and fanning two.
Another new Terp, Trystan Sarcone, came on to wrap up the game in the ninth with a 1-2-3 inning.
Jarrett Brown drove in the lone run for Georgia Southern (0-2) with an RBI double.
Breaking Down The Action
- In the bottom of the first, Georgia Southern had two batters reach on a pair of errors with no outs, but Logan Koester retired the next three batters to get out of the jam.
- Chris Hacopian rocked a two-run home run to left-center for Maryland's first runs of the game in the top of the third inning.
- The Terps took a 3-0 lead in the next inning on an RBI single by Elijah Lambros. Maryland recorded three hits in the inning overall. Georgia Southern responded in the bottom half with an RBI double down the infield line.
- Maryland loaded up the bases in the sixth with one out. Jacob Orr picked up an RBI walk to take a 4-1 lead.
- Sam Hojnar became the seventh Terp to record a hit after hitting a double off the wall in right field with one out.
- After a lead-off double by Eddie Hacopian, a passed ball put him on third and Elijah Lambros brought him home on a squeeze play for his second RBI of the day. The Terps had a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.
- Alex Calarco hit a deep solo home run to right field to extend the lead in the ninth. Eddie Hacopian added a sacrifice fly to bring home Kevin Keister.
- Trystan Sarcone retired the final three batters and secured the win.
Swope's Take
"The pitching was tremendous, they just dominated all the way throughout the game", said head coach Matt Swope. "They were getting ahead and dominating hitters, it was just good to get the series win. I think we took advantage of some stuff, but I felt like we could have scored a bit more there. We had the bases loaded three times and were only able to push one across. I would have liked to see a little more, but I'm not going to complain about an opening series win. This was great for the guys, and to see Chris Hacopian get his first home run as well as Alex Calarco. Just a complete team win."
Chris Hacopian on His Home Run and the Whole Team Performance During the Game
"It was pure excitement. I'm just happy to help my team score some runs and help us win", said freshman infielder Chris Hacopian. "Swope preaches trusting the process. What we do in the cage and in the lab and I think that is starting to show with the guys. It's a lot of fun to play defense behind our pitchers. They work fast and they work in the zone. Those guys just attacked hitters all day."
Terp Debuts
- Logan Koester made his Maryland debut as he got the start on the mound. Koester, a transfer from George Washington, went four innings and finished with two strikeouts.
- Joey McMannis also made his debut as he came on in relief of Koester. The freshman pitched four innings and struck out two batters.
- Jordan Crosland came in as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning.
- Tristan Sarcone, a transfer from Dartmouth, came on in the ninth inning to finish off the game.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Logan Koester and Joey McMannis made their Maryland debuts on the mound.
- 1: Chris Hacopian hit his first collegiate home run.
- 1: Hacopian also had his first multi-RBI game.
- 5: Alex Calarco hit his fifth career home run - his first as a Terp.
- 7: Seven Terps recorded at least one hit.
- 15: Elijah Lambros had his 15th career game with multiple RBIs, as a Terp.
- 24: Eddie Hacopian had his 24th career multi-hit game as a Terp.
Up Next
- Maryland is back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET for the final game of its three-game series at Georgia Southern. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and fans can listen on radio at Maryland Baseball Network.
