Maryland (26-16, 6-9 B1G) at Illinois (24-13, 10-2 B1G)
April 26-28, 2024
Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium
5:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m., 1:00 p.m.
BTN, B1G+
COLLEGE PARK, MD -- The Maryland Baseball program returns home after a 10-game road stretch as it welcomes the Illinois Fighting Illini to The Bob in Big Ten play. The Terrapins return home in conference play after two consecutive Big Ten weekend series on the road. Game one of the series will be live on Big Ten Network, while games two and three will stream on B1G+. All three games will air on the Maryland baseball Network.
Where We Are
- Maryland (26-16, 6-9 B1G) come into the weekend after completing its 10-game road swing with a 6-4 win over James Madison.
- After trailing early 1-0, the Terps would score a pair of runs on a Sam Hojnar RBI single and an error in the top of the second. James Madison would respond with two runs in the bottom half and then another in fourth to take a 4-2 lead.
- The Terps would respond in the top of the fifth with four runs, the first coming on a solo home run by Chris Hacopian. Michael Iannazzo drove in the other three runs in the fifth on his first career home run, giving the Terps a 6-4 lead.
- Out of the pen, Kenny Lippman and Logan Berrier combined for 6.2 innings of one-run, seven strikeout baseball. The two relievers held the James Madison offense to just three hits and one walk over their combined outing. Lippman picked up his second win of the campaign, while Berrier got his team-leading third save of 2024.
Series History
- The Terps and the Illini have 22 meetings in the all-time series, with the Terps holding the slight advantage at 12-10. This is the first meeting for the two programs since the 2022 season, when the Terps took two of three on the road in Champaign. The Illini took the first game of the series, before the Terps took the final two games of the weekend.
About The Illini
- Illinois (24-13, 10-2 B1G) enter the weekend after its own midweek win over Western Illinois 12-1. The Illini scored 11 of their 12 runs in the game off of home runs, including a grand slam and three-run homer in the fifth inning. The pitching staff held Western Illinois to just four hits and struck out 11 batters.
- Offensively, the Illini are led in batting average by Jacob Schroeder who has a .370 batting average on the season, and pairs that with 11 home runs and 32 RBI. The Illini are led in home runs by Drake Westcott, whose 12 home runs are the second most in the Big Ten. Coltin Quagliano is the team leader in RBI on the season with 41.
- Cooper Omans leads the Illini in wins with four as the left hander has a 4-1 record with a 3.55 ERA. The team leader in ERA is Evan Clark, with a 1.35 ERA in eight appearances.
Steady Eddie
- Junior Eddie Hacopian has seen his average increase in the last couple of weeks. Hacopian's average sits at .391, which is the fourth best average in the Big Ten. Hacopian's batting average also ranks in the top 50 in the nation this season, while his 63 hits on the year are tied for the 24rd-most in Division I and tied for second in the Big Ten.
- Hacopian has hits in 22 of his last 24 games, where he has a batting average of .418 with six homers, 17 RBI, with an on base percentage of .500.
- Hacopian had a hitting streak of 11 games snapped in the first game of their series against Nebraska over the weekend. The 11-game hitting streaked tied the longest for a Terrapin this season, with Elijah Lambros having an 11-game hitting streak earlier this season.
- In addition to his high average, Hacopian gets on base at a high clip as well. The junior infielder has an on base percentage of .493 which is the fourth-best in the conference, as evident by his 30 walks to only 23 strikeouts on the season.
Eddie Hacopian has been swinging a hot bat of late for the Terps. The junior has hits in 22 of his last 24 games, where he is hitting for a .418 average with six homers and 17 RBI.
The Cardiac Terps
- A moniker bestowed to the team this season for its late game rallies. The Terrapins have won 11 games in their final at bats:
- Maryland has outscored its opponents by a wide margin in late inning situations.
- In the eighth inning or later, The Terps are outscoring their opponents by a margin of 65-34.
- The late-inning dramatics don't stop there, with the Terps also having 14 comeback wins so far this season.
- The Terps have scored three or more runs in the eighth and ninth innings eight times this season. The most in the eighth inning came in their 14-3 win over Mount St. Mary's on February 20 when they scored six-runs in the eighth inning. Their second-most runs in either inning came in their most recent win over James Madison, where the Terrapins erupted for a five-run bottom of the eighth to break a 4-4 tie. The Terps had another five-run inning in their come from behind win over Michigan on Friday, Mar. 29. Four of the five runs scored in the Michigan comeback were also scored with two outs.
Kevin Keister came up big for the Terps on April 7 with a walk-off single to give them a 6-5 win. This was the fourth walk-off for the Terps on the season, while also their 10th win in their final at-bat and 13th comeback win on the year.
Agent zero
- One of the bright spots in the bullpen for the Terps has been Longwood transfer Logan Berrier. The redshirt senior has a 7-1 record with three saves, a 2.45 ERA, 30 strikeouts, in 33 innings across 14 appearances.
- Berrier's seven wins on the season are tied for the sixth-most in Division I and are tied for the most in the Big Ten.
- Berrier began the season with a 7-0 record, becoming the first Terps pitcher to start a season with a record of 7-0 or better since Kansas City Royals prospect Ryan Ramsey began the 2022 season with a 10-0 record.
Logan Berrier has had a strong start to his Terrapins career. The righty leads the team with a 7-1 record and has a 2.45 ERA. Berrier's seven wins are tied for the sixth-most in Division I this season.
You Only Need One
- A team with a penchant for the dramatic, the Terrapins currently hold a 11-3 record this season in one-run games.
- The Terps added their fourth walk-off win on Sunday in a 6-5 win over Indiana. This was their second walk-off of the week, with the other coming in in their 13-12 win over UMBC on April 3. The other two walk-offs for the Terps came in their Big Ten opening series against Michigan State where they got wins of 7-6 on March 22 and 5-4 on March 24.
- The Terps have already eclipsed their win total in one-run games from last season, with them holding a record of 7-4 on such occasions in 2023.
The Terps have a penchant for winning close games.
Brayden Martin has been a key force in those one-run games, as the freshman has two walk-offs on the year that have led to Terrapin wins.
Walk It Out
- As a team, the Terrapins have walked a total of 211 times to begin the season. Their 211 walks currently rank as the fourth-most in the Big Ten.
- Three Terps rank in the top 20 in the Big Ten in walks this year, with junior Eddie Hacopian tied for sixth in the conference with 30. Next is senior and team captain Kevin Keister, whose 25 walks on the year rank as the 14th-most in the Big Ten. Chris Hacopian closes out the list, as the freshman is tied for the 17th-most walks in the conference with 23 on the year.
Freshman
Chris Hacopian is one of five Terps who rank in the top 20 of the conference in walks on the campaign. The infielder currently has 23 walks on the year which is tied for the 17th-most in the Big Ten.
