Maryland Arms Shine In 2-1 Series-Opening Loss To Michigan

Friday, May 1

College Park, MD

6 PM

Maryland

22-24, 6-16

Michigan

28-17, 13-9

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Michigan	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	4	1
Maryland	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	6	1

Cristofer Cespedes pitches against Michigan

Maryland Arms Shine In 2-1 Series-Opening Loss To Michigan

5/1/2026 6:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Cristofer Cespedes and Lance Williams held the Wolverines to four hits in 10 innings on Friday night.

COLLEGE PARK, MD — Maryland and Michigan opened their weekend series with a classic pitchers' duel on Friday night, and the Wolverines outlasted the Terps to claim a 2-1 win in 10 innings. Two Maryland arms combined to hold Michigan to four hits, but the Terps fell to 22-24 (6-16 Big Ten) on the season.

Cristofer Cespedes made the first start of his career on the mound and was brilliant on Friday night. He held the Wolverines hitless through his first five innings of work and limited them to one unearned run on one hit across six complete frames.

Big Cris gets his first K of the day to complete the scoreless inning 😤

Middle 2
Terps 0, Wolverines 0#DirtyTerps pic.twitter.com/trGLiBOcp2
— Maryland Baseball (@TerpsBaseball) May 1, 2026

Both teams pushed their first runs across in the sixth inning. Michigan used an RBI groundout to open a 1-0 lead before David Mendez promptly tied the game with an RBI groundout of his own to plate Brayden Martin — who extended his on-base streak to 76 straight games dating back to last season.

Lance Williams took over on the bump and retired the first five hitters he faced and struck out the first four. He collected nine strikeouts across his four innings of work in the defensive bout, but Michigan captured the lead with a solo homer in the 10th inning and held on for the 2-1 win.

Lance was HYPED after his eighth strikeout of the game 😤#DirtyTerps pic.twitter.com/j7TFxZKlwf
— Maryland Baseball (@TerpsBaseball) May 2, 2026

Hits were hard to come by on Friday, but Nate Hawton-Henley logged two of Maryland's six knocks in the series opener. The Terps look to even the series on Saturday at 2 PM.

How It Happened:

T1: Cespedes worked a 1-2-3 first inning.
B2: Ty Kaunas singled to left for the game's first hit.
T3: Cespedes fanned a batter in a clean frame.
T4: Cespedes worked another 1-2-3 inning.
B4: Bud Coombs led the frame off with a double to left.
T6: Michigan took a 1-0 lead on an RBI groundout.
B6: Martin led off the inning with a single to extend his on-base streak.
B6: Mendez's RBI groundout tied the game.
T7: Williams fanned the side in a clean inning.
B7: Hawton-Henley doubled for his second hit of the night.
T8: Williams collected two Ks in a scoreless inning.
T9: Williams fanned two in a scoreless frame.
T10: Michigan took a 2-1 lead on a solo homer.

Impact Performances:

Cespedes (SP): 6.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 K.
Williams (RP): 4.0 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 9 K.
Hawton-Henley (CF): 2-3, 2B, BB.

Marvelous Martin:

Martin reached base safely for the 76th straight game, which includes all 46 games this season, extending his program record for consecutive games reaching base to start a season.
With 131 career walks, Martin sits second all-time in Maryland program history.
Martin leads the Big Ten in walks (42) and is among the conference's leaders in steals (17).
He's Maryland's team leader in qualified average, hits, runs, and walks.

Numbers To Know:

1: Cespedes made the first start of his career on Friday.
1: Maryland went to extra innings for the first time at home and the first time in conference play this season.
5: Both Martin (42) and Kaunas (39) rank in the top three in the Big Ten in walks.
5: Maryland ranks top five in the Big Ten in hits, runs, home runs, walks, doubles, average, on-base percentage, slugging, and stolen bases.
6: Maryland outhit Michigan 6-4 on Friday night.
9: Williams collected nine strikeouts through just four innings.
39: Friday marked the 39th all-time meeting between Maryland and Michigan.
46: Martin has reached safely in all 46 games this season, which is a program record for consecutive games reached safely to start a season.
76: Martin has reached in 76 straight games dating back to last season.
280: Maryland added four walks to bring its Big Ten-leading season total to 280.