The Cavaliers walked it off in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Maryland baseball senior Omar Melendez was one pitch away from sending the game to extra innings after his offense rallied for three runs in the ninth inning.
However, Melendez’s pitch was outside, extending the game to another batter. A few pitches later, the ball got away from Melendez, bringing home the winning run, as No. 23 Virginia beat Maryland, 7-6.
In the former ACC rivals’ first matchup since 2015, Maryland (8-8, 1-2 Big Ten) trailed Virginia (10-5, 1-2 ACC) 6-3 entering the ninth inning — the second time the Terps trailed a ranked opponent with the game on the line.
Senior Elijah Lamrbos struck out swinging to open the inning, and it looked like the Terps would falter. However, Maryland didn’t quit, rallying to score three runs and tying the game.
Leadoff hitter Brayden Martin drove a one-out single through the left side to start the rally. Then, Eddie Hacopian walked, while his brother Chris hit the first pitch he saw off the left field wall to score Martin and send his brother to third base.
After Alex Calarco’s groundout scored a run, a pitch went right off the glove of Virginia’s catcher, which rolled to the backstop and brought Hacopian home to tie the game.
Virginia used eight pitchers in the game, with the first change coming in the third inning after Maryland sophomore Michael Iannazzo walked. Junior left-handed pitcher Bradley Hodges never made it through the order before he was replaced by graduate student Alex Markus.
Senior Elijah Lambros immediately tagged the new insert for an RBI triple into left-center field. Virginia couldn’t field it cleanly, scoring Iannazzo from first base for the Terps’ first run. The Hacopian brothers failed to take advantage of Lambros on third, though. Both were rung up on pitches outside the zone to end the inning.
Despite a pick-off blunder that advanced a runner to second, Jacob Orr made a run-saving play in left field to end the third inning and keep the Terps on top.
Junior Aidan Teel ripped a single into right field to begin the bottom of the fourth, followed by junior Harrison Didawick’s bloop single over a leaping Chris Hacopian at shortstop.
Then came the game’s most unusual moment.
Trey Wells placed a bunt to advance the runners, but Hollis Porter made a heads-up play to throw home on a ball in play. Calarco made the tag on Teel’s attempt to jump over him at home to prevent a run.
However, Virginia still scored to tie the game, as freshman James Nunnallee was caught in a pickle, but Didawick scored at home before the tag to even things.
Maryland went down in order in the fifth despite a lead-off walk, thanks to a well-executed double play. Yeager managed to escape another jam in the fifth after allowing his first extra base hit on an Eric Becker double and walking the subsequent batter. After a mound visit by Calarco, Yeager forced a fly out to right field to end the inning.
The pitchers’ duel through five innings quickly turned into an offensive showdown in the sixth inning, as Maryland and Virginia broke open the scoring to break the tie.
Chris Hacopian beat out a throw at first base for Maryland’s third hit in the top of the sixth. This was followed by a walk, putting Calarco on base for the first time. It also ended graduate Wes Arrington’s day, as Virgnina inserted its fifth arm, left-hander Black Barker.
Sophomore Aden Hill singled to load the bases, then Orr’s sacrifice fly to right field was deep enough to score Hacopian from third base. This wasn’t it for the Terps. Porter drove a fly ball to left field that Virgnina couldn’t glove, scoring another run.
A scary situation arose for Maryland, as Iannazzo was hit in the head on a pitch. However, he was able to walk off the field under his own power. This brought Lambros up to bat with the bases loaded, but his drive to right field fell just short of the wall, ending the inning.
After walking the first two batters in the bottom half of the inning, Maryland pulled Yeager. Cristofer Cespedes entered the game, but Virginia executed a perfect double steal to advance its runners to second and third. Chris Hacopian’s error at shortstop compounded the problems, allowing the run to score with no outs.
Head coach Matt Swope then made a questionable call, pulling Cespedes after he recorded two outs. He thrust in senior left-hander Andrew Johnson for a matchup with Becker. This immediately backfired, as Becker needed just one pitch to drive both runners in and take a 4-3 lead.
Maryland tried to respond in the seventh, putting two runners on base with only one out. However, Calarco grounded into a double play to end the inning. Meanwhile, Johnson regained his poise, pitching a 1-2-3 inning to keep the Terps within one.
The offense couldn’t deliver in the top of the eighth, either, grounding into their third double play of the game. In the bottom of the frame, junior pinch hitter Luke Hanson smashed a home run to left field to extend the lead to 6-3 going into the ninth.
Three things to know
1. A good start. Yeager stepped up against his toughest opponent thus far, pitching five innings, allowing five hits and one earned run on 84 pitches.
2. Another heartbreaker. Wednesday’s loss marks Maryland’s fourth game this season that went to extra innings or was lost by just one.
3. Defensive woes. Maryland committed two costly errors in the game, a trend that has followed it throughout this season.