Uniting His Passions

Sam Hojnar is a star second baseman for Maryland baseball. But the diamond is just one place where he performs and showcases his talents. 

Hojnar began playing the guitar and developed a passion for music at a young age. That passion grew into a dream of one day pursuing a country music career. He has already performed at a few bars and authored a couple dozen unreleased songs. For Hojnar, music perfectly complements his other passion for baseball.

“The best thing to happen for my baseball ability and my baseball career has been music,” Hojnar said. “It allows me to take a step back and not stress too much about baseball. … Baseball dominated my life, it drove me a little crazy.”

Music was always a big part of the Hojnar family. Sam’s father, Jack Hojnar, was in a rock band named Ditchweed Diesel. One of Sam’s older sisters was also a talented musician who could play several different instruments. Musicians surrounded Sam, and he quickly became interested in music as a hobby. His interest heightened when he spent some of his own money to get an electric guitar when he was about 10 years old.

Around the same time, Hojnar was at a talent show and performed an original song he had written himself. It came as a surprise to everyone, including his parents, and it foreshadowed his later musical endeavors.

“We were sitting there thinking he was just going to play a cover tune,” Jack said. “Next thing you know, he's up there playing some original that was really cute for his age. That was pretty impressive.”

Hojnar joined a jazz band club at his school a few years later. He began playing the upright bass and continued to explore music throughout his childhood. But he abruptly stopped playing once he got to high school. Hojnar shifted his focus to baseball to play at the next level. His father wanted Sam to chase his dreams, but he always encouraged him to stick with music.

“As much as I love sports and what they represent, I always felt that music was something that could last longer,” his father said. “I was always a bigger proponent of them diving into music.” 

Hojnar was an undersized student-athlete for much of his high school years in Naperville, Illinois. The extra time allocated to his sport allowed him to develop the necessary skills to fulfill his goal. He hit a growth spurt toward the end of high school and attended Southern Illinois for his college freshman season in 2020.

He transferred to Heartland Community College for his sophomore year and broke out. All this time, his passion for making music was absent from his life.

It wasn’t until Hojnar transferred again to Iowa that he would pick up the guitar again. He was out with some friends where one was present, and he started playing again. He remembered the passion he once had for music.

Hojnar told his father about the night. He was in Iowa for one of the school’s home series. Jack went to a guitar store and surprised his son with a guitar while he was in class. Sam came home to a brand-new guitar on his bed. The rest took off from there.  

The infielder got hurt during his junior season in 2022, and he spent the summer in Iowa City rehabbing from his injury. He was accompanied by his guitar in his free time.

Hojnar and one of his teammates and friends at the time, Andy Nelson, often went to a bar in the area called Elray's Live & Dive. The bar hosted live music, and Hojnar asked the owner if he could perform on stage before the headliner that day. They said yes, and he got his shot.

“Right then and there I realized how much fun it is and how exhilarating it is,” Hojnar said. “Then from there, instead of just a once in a while thing, it became a weekly thing,”

Hojnar began regularly performing at Elray’s, often opening for Hawkeyes defensive lineman and country music artist Dallas Jacobus. Many of Hojnar’s teammates accompanied him to show support. The infielder returned for his senior year at Iowa in 2023 and finished second on the team in RBIs (59) and third in home runs (10), while appearing in all but one of the Hawkeyes’ 60 games.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound Hojnar transferred to Maryland that summer and brought his love for music with him to College Park. He has started all 42 games this season for the Terps while batting .292 and slugging nine home runs, which ranks second on the team. He leads the team with 23 extra-base hits and 45 RBIs.

The second baseman has continued to perform on stage. He performed weekly in the fall at Looney's Pub in College Park. Once again, his teammates showed up to support him. 

“Seeing my teammates out there supporting me is one of the coolest things ever,” Hojnar said. “Especially here coming into a new scenario, I knew nobody. I was amazed by how many of the guys were immediately willing to show up.”

Nearly the entire team was in attendance for several of Hojnar’s performances. His teammate and friend, catcher Charlie Glennon, was one of them and was surprised when he heard Hojnar perform Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker for the first time. 

“I was just shocked,” Glennon said. “I didn't know he was as good as he was. He played it and the whole team was kind of just like, ‘Oh my god, he's for real. This is awesome.’ Everyone snapped into being super into it, which was awesome. It was a pretty universal reaction, which I thought was pretty cool.”

Hojnar has been occupied with the Terps’ baseball season since mid-February. But he still finds time to perform at the local bar, last performing at Looney’s on April 24. Music consumes his free time outside of class and baseball. He often writes songs that are posted to his YouTube and TikTok accounts. Hojnar says he draws inspiration from his favorite artists and bands, such as the Eagles, Zach Bryan, Jason Isbell, and Chris Stapleton. His baseball walk-up song is Revival by Zach Bryan.

“I'm very happy that he has this (baseball) to support what he loves,” Jack Hojnar said. “Don't get me wrong, he loves baseball, but coming to play for Matt [Swope] and him finding his love for music again has been the best thing that's ever happened.”

Hojnar loves music and baseball equally. Music gave him perspective and allowed him to focus on baseball while not letting it consume his life. His newfound focus is allowing him to enjoy career numbers as a Terp. 

“If you ask me during the middle of our season when I’m really enjoying baseball, I might say baseball,” Hojnar said. “If you asked me a couple of weeks ago on Friday night when I was playing at Looney's, the answer might be different.”