The Terps are making a postseason push.
In a crucial Big Ten series between two teams fighting for their postseason lives, Maryland’s offense put pressure on Minnesota early.
Sophomore Brayden Martin led the game off with a single, and Chris Hacopian brought them home a few pitches later with a two-run shot to put the Terps on top.
Maryland never relinquished its first-inning lead, defeating Minnesota 8-2 to pass the Golden Gophers in the Big Ten standings.
Maryland’s (24-27, 9-16 Big Ten) ace Kyle McCoy made his usual Friday start. The redshirt sophomore only allowed two runs, but it was far from an easy outing. The Golden Gophers (22-25, 8-17 Big Ten) put runners on base in every inning, but McCoy did what he’s done all season long – worked out of difficult situations. He went seven innings, allowing 10 hits while striking out five to earn the win.
“He’s been consistent all year,” head coach Matt Swope said about McCoy. “Hasn’t had any bad outings. If you look back at the Fridays, we should be in a different position than we are right now because of him.”
This took pressure off the struggling Maryland bullpen. Only senior Ryan Van Buren was used for the Terps, going two innings and allowing no runs to earn the save.
Junior Joe Sperry made the start for Minnesota. Sperry lasted 5.1 innings without allowing a walk — and pitched three consecutive scoreless innings at one point — but allowed six runs on seven hits to put the Golden Gophers in a hole they could not get out of.
The top two batters in the Terps order — Martin and Chris Hacopian — were the only Terps with hits through four innings, but it was good enough to drive in three runs. They started immediately with the two runs in the first to jump to an early 2-0 lead.
The sophomore infielders delivered in their next at-bats. Another Martin single followed by a Hacopian double put runners on second and third base early in the third inning. Hollis Porter grounded out to second base, but it was enough to score one runner and extend the lead.
McCoy allowed base runners in the first three innings but escaped unscathed. However, he couldn’t cleanly work out of a slow start in the fifth inning. He walked the lead-off man to open the inning before allowing back-to-back singles. Sophomore Charlie Sutherland put runners on first and second, while Jake Perry delivered with a two-RBI single to get within one.
While Martin and Hacopian did the work in the first five innings, the rest of the Terps’ lineup finally woke up in the sixth inning. Porter started the inning by raking an opposite-field home run, while seniors Jacob Orr and Alex Calarco followed with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners and end Sperry’s day. Aden Hill’s squeeze bunt drove in the inning’s second run, but freshman Paul Jones II broke the game open, launching a three-run homer to extend Maryland’s lead to 8-2.
“That was just great to be able to do that, having all my family here, especially my mom’s birthday today,” Jones said. “Giving her that as a birthday present was really cool.”
Neither team scored the rest of the way as the Terps cruised to their 24th victory of the season.
“We treat these games like game seven now,” McCoy said. “Season coming to an end, I wanna do what I can for the team.”
Three things to know
1. Pitching delivers. McCoy gave the Terps another strong Friday start, while Van Buren held things down for the bullpen to seal the win.
2. Homecoming for Jones. Burnsville, Minnesota native Jones hit his second home run of the season in front of many friends and family in attendance.
3. Porter’s power. The redshirt sophomore drove in his 21st home run of the season in the sixth inning. That deep shot moves Porter up to a tie for the second-most home runs in Division I.