Box Score CORPUS CHRISTI, TX -- Keyed by a seven-run inning in the bottom of the second, Maryland baseball handed Pittsburgh its first loss of the season, 10-4, on Saturday at Whataburger Field. It was the Terps' second game of the Kleberg Bank College Classic.
Maryland (5-1) cracked seven hits in the inning alone, including a two-run home run by Chris Hacopian and a three-run bases-clearing double by Sam Hojnar. The home run was Hacopian's second of the season and Hojnar notched multiple RBIs in three straight games.
Hojnar added another double later in the game to finish with four RBIs and two runs. In the first two games of the tournament, he has already amassed eight RBIs. He's also the first Terp with four RBIs in back-to-back games since Jacob Orr did it last season on May 3 and May 7.
Maryland recorded 15 hits overall, a season-high, with
Elijah Lambros,
Kevin Keister,
Devin Russell and Hacopian adding multiple hits. Lambros went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and two runs. Keister reached base safely in every at-bat, going 3-for-3 with three singles, two walks and a run.
Logan Berrier closed the game by pitching the final two innings and getting the Terps out of a jam with bases loaded and no outs in the eight without surrendering a run. He retired three of the final four batters to secure the Terps' win.
Logan Koester earned the win and pitched five solid innings before Joey McMannis entered and took the mound in relief. McMannis pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three batters while allowing one hit.
Pitt (4-1) edged Washington in its first game of the tournament and swept Maine to begin the season.
Breaking Down The Action
- Both teams traded 1-2-3 innings to start action in the game.
- The Terps erupted for a seven-run bottom of the second. Jacob Orr and Elijah Lambros traded back-to-back RBI singles to start the scoring in the inning. After a strikeout, Eddie Hacopian walked to load the bases. Sam Hojnar ripped a 2-1 pitch down the left field line for a bases-clearing double to make it a 5-0 game. A batter later, Chris Hacopian launched a two-run home run to give the Terps the seven-run advantage.
- Pitt got its first hit of the game in the top of the third, but Logan Koester got the next batter to roll into a 5-4-3 double play to end the frame.
- The Terps loaded the bases in the bottom of the third with one out, but a double play kept them off the board in the inning.
- Pitt finally got on the board in the top of the fourth on a ball that just got under the glove of a diving Hacopian. Another single in the inning brought home another in the inning to make it a 7-2 game.
- Pitt added two more runs in the fifth on a single up the middle and a fielder's choice. The Terps still led 7-4.
- Maryland added a run in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly by E. Hacopian that scored Lambros.
- Hojnar ripped another double, this time to right-center that scored E. Hacopian. He followed that up with a single to bring home Hojnar and the Terps boasted a 10-4 lead entering the eighth inning.
- Pitt loaded the bases in the eighth and Maryland turned to Logan Berrier who struck out the first batter and escaped the inning without giving up a run after forcing a groundout double play.
- Berrier retired three of the final four batters to secure the Terps' win.
Coach Swope's Thought's
"Just a huge second inning from the guys", said Coach Swope. "I thought their guy had good stuff, his ball had a lot of run. We were just able to build a big inning, punch through, and I have to give the guys credit. The guys were just relentless in that second inning. We had a little lull in the middle of the game, but we were able to add on late and tack on at the end. It was a really big win for the guys against an ACC opponent."
From the Guys
"I thought we played great both offensively, defensively, and our pitching", remarked Kevin Keister on the performance of the team on Saturday. "Our pitching was unbelievable today, especially out of the bullpen. Timely hits, a bunch of two-out hits. We just played a really great game all around."
Numbers To Know
- 2: Chris Hacopian hit his second home run of his college career.
- 2: Devin Russell had two hits in a game for the second time in his career and first this season.
- 3: Hojnar notched multiple hits and multiple RBIs in three straight games.
- 4: Hojnar has four RBIs in each of the last two games, the first Terp to achieve that since Jacob Orr last May.
- 5: Elijah Lambros had his fifth career game with three or more hits. He also has a five-game hitting streak.
- 5: Hacopian has hits in five games in a row, including a pair of multi-hit games.
- 7: Maryland had seven hits in its big seven-run second inning.
- 15: The Terps had 15 hits in the game overall, a season-high.
- 19: Lambros had his 19th career multi-hit game as a Terp.
- 41: Kevin Keister had his 41st career game with multiple hits and eighth with three hits or more in a game.
Up Next
- Maryland is back in action tomorrow, Feb. 25 for its final game of the Kleberg Bank College Classic against Washington. First pitch is set for Noon ET and the game will be streamed on FloBaseball and Maryland Baseball Network.
