Box Score COLLEGE PARK, MD – Carried by scoring bunches in the first and eighth innings, Maryland baseball surged past Mount St. Mary's, 14-3, in its season home opener on Tuesday at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium.
Devin Russell belted a three-run home run late to seal the victory and the Terps added another run for insurance. The home run was a part of a six-run bottom of the eighth inning, matching the total Maryland scored in the first.
Russell also scored a game-high three runs in the contest as he was driven home on his two earlier walks.
Sam Hojnar,
Eddie Hacopian and
Chris Hacopian all finished with multiple hits. Hojnar went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs, two runs and two walks. E. Hacopian also went 2-for-3 adding an RBI, a run and three walks.
Brayden Martin recorded his first multi-RBI game with a three on his double with bases loaded in the first inning to mount a 6-0 early lead. Terps remained in control for the entirety of the game.
Maryland had five extra-base hits and drew 13 walks as a team. The Terrapins' other two runs came on a sacrifice fly and a balk.
Ryan Van Buren made his first appearance on the mound this season and went 5.2 innings, matching a career-high with four strikeouts. He gave up just four hits and two runs. He was replaced by
Trystan Sarcone who delivered the final out of the sixth.
Omar Melendez pitched the remaining three innings, spinning five strikeouts and only allowing one run.
Mount St. Mary's (2-2) runs came from a sacrifice fly by Josh Braxton, RBI single by Shane Wockely and a solo home run by Gavin Lacoe.
Breaking Down The Action
- Van Buren kicked things off with a rapid first frame, retiring three straight Mountaineers in only 11 pitches.
- The offense built on the early momentum by scoring six runs in the bottom of the first. After Eddie Hacopian and Kevin Keister got on base with a pair of walks, Chris Hacopian smashed an RBI double down the left-field line to score his brother. Sam Hojnar followed with an RBI double of his own to drive in Keister, and C. Hacopian touched home thanks to an Alex Calarco sacrifice fly. With Keister still on second, Devin Russell reached on an error and Elijah Lamrbos walked to load the bases. Brayden Martin then smoked an RBI double off the glove of Mount St. Marys' left-fielder to clear the bases.
- The Mountaineers scored one run in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly by Josh Braxton.
- After a scoreless few innings, Lambros tacked on another run for Maryland in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI double to score Russell, upping their lead to 7-1.
- Mount St. Mary's scored in the top of the sixth with an RBI single from Shane Wockely. During the play, Hojnar made a diving grab at second and slung the ball to Russell at the plate in time, but it popped out of the catcher's glove. Trystan Sarcone came in for relief and stranded two Mountaineer batters to get the Terps out of the inning.
- In the bottom of the seventh, Maryland loaded the bases before Calarco advanced to home on a Mount St. Mary's balk for the Terps' eighth run.
- The Terps added six more runs in an explosive eighth inning. RBI singles from Hojnar and Calarco scored Keister and C. Hacopian. Then with two runners on, Devin Russell launched a home run to left center, his first of the season. E. Hacopian kept the scoring going with an RBI single to drive in Luke Zeisloft.
- The Mountaineers' Gavin Lacoe hit a solo home run in the top of the ninth, but the Terps maintained a commanding 14-3 lead.
Swope's Take
"It's always been our thing [to] swing at strikes and take balls," said head coach Matt Swope. "So I just preach to the guys, this is about the process. If we stick to the process for the entire year, we're going to walk a lot and get good pitches to hit. I was happy with that [today] and we were able to cash in a little better than this weekend."
Devin Russell on His First Home Run and the Team's Dominant Home Opener
"Yeah, it's always great to get the first one out of the way," said sophomore catcher Devin Russell. "When the light [show] went on it was pure excitement. It was a big win that we're definitely going to take into the weekend."
Terp Debuts
- Jordan Crosland made his first career start after coming in as a pinch hitter against Georgia Southern on Feb. 17. He recorded his first career hit in the seventh inning.
- Omar Melendez made his pitching debut, entering the game as a relief pitcher. The transfer from Alabama State pitched three innings and struck out five batters.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Jordan Crosland made his first career start on Tuesday and notched his first career hit.
- 1: Brayden Martin recorded the first multi-RBI game of his career.
- 2: Devin Russell hit his second career home run.
- 3: The Terps had three RBI doubles in the first inning.
- 4: Ryan Van Buren matched his career-high with four strikeouts.
- 6: Maryland scored six runs in the first inning.
- 5: Maryland recorded five extra-base hits in the game.
- 13: The Terps tallied 13 walks in the game.
Up Next
- Maryland travels to Corpus Christi, TX for the Kleberg Bank College Classic. The Terps begin tournament play with a game against Texas A&M - Corpus Christi on Feb. 23. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed on FloBaseball and Maryland Baseball Network.
