The Terps held a five-run lead in the eighth inning.
Maryland baseball looked to be in control. It led 6-1 in the eighth inning, and starting pitcher Kyle McCoy was still in the game.
But Indiana flipped the script.
McCoy lost his magic, allowing back-to-back hits from the Hoosiers to put runners on second and third with no outs. That ended his stellar day, bringing in senior Andrew Johnson. Johnson couldn’t escape the jam, though, allowing the inherited base runners to score before surrendering a two-run homer as Indiana cut the deficit to one.
Maryland continued to falter. Cristofer Cespedes struck out two batters in a row, but it wasn’t enough, as freshman Will Moore came through with a walk-off single to left-center field to win it, 7-6, Friday at Indiana.
“We’ve been at the point for a couple weeks where you just got to stay positive,” head coach Matt Swope said postgame. “I just told them that it hurts right now, and you just have to process it, but you got to try to do whatever you can to to flush it. All we have is each other in the room.”
With two outs in the second inning, Maryland (17-22, 4-12 Big Ten) was still looking for its first hit, but that quickly changed.
Sophomore Liam Wilson doubled with a runner on first before Elijah Lambros walked to load the bases. This set up senior Eddie Hacopian, who hit a grand slam to put Maryland up, 4-0.
Meanwhile, the Hoosiers (21-17, 11-8 Big Ten) had chances but could not capitalize. Early on, the Terps’ pitching and defense made plays when needed.
Two of these defensive heroics were diving ones that came in the outfield. First was Lambros’ in the second inning, then Wilson’s in the third — everything was going Maryland’s way.
Sophomore Jackson Yarberry made the start for the Hoosiers, but his day ended early. He worked a quick first inning, but ran into trouble in the second. Yarberry loaded the bases, forcing a mound visit from Indiana. He stayed in the game, but this proved costly, as Hacopian delivered.
Senior Ryan Kraft came in relief for the Hoosiers, giving them much-needed length. He pitched 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits and 91 total pitches to keep Indiana within striking distance.
McCoy worked into a jam in the third and fourth innings with multiple runners in scoring position. However, McCoy only allowed one run before going on a tear late in his start.
Maryland’s offense went quiet, but added runs in the third and seventh innings. Sophomore Hollis Porter started things off with a single before senior Alex Calarco doubled off the top of the wall in right-center field to score Porter from first and extend the lead to 6-1.
McCoy continued his great day on the mound. He retired nine batters in a row and struck out five consecutive Hoosiers hitters between the sixth and seventh innings.
Then came the eighth inning disaster.
When Johnson entered the game, the Terps led by five, but held a one-run lead when he was replaced by Cespedes. Maryland’s defense allowed runners to advance on passed balls and stolen bases, leading to the tying run to score on a single.
Cespedes struggled in the ninth inning. He put two runners on with no outs, while a costly error allowed the runner to advance to third. This was the difference, as the Hoosiers’ two-out single won it, and Maryland dropped another heartbreaking loss.
“Just seems like a broken record,” Swope said. “All we can do is try to stack these days together and stay positive and compete again tomorrow.”
Three things to know
1. Another blown lead. Maryland wasted another great start from McCoy, and suffered another heartbreaking loss despite being in control throughout.
2. Big workload for McCoy. Maryland’s ace recorded a career-high 110 pitches. He has gone over 100 pitches in four of his last five starts.
3. Can the Terps recover? Maryland looked to have found some life with its recent play, but another tough loss might ruin any prior momentum.