Maryland baseball toppled by UCLA, 11-5
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The Bruins scored all 11 of their runs in the second inning.
For the second straight day, the matchup between Maryland baseball and UCLA was decided with a monster inning.
The Bruins scored all 11 of their runs in the second inning to move past the Terps, 11-5, earning their first Big Ten series victory of the season Sunday in College Park.
The Bruins (12-4, 2-1 Big Ten) opened the second inning with back-to-back singles up the middle from designated hitter Blake Balsz and third baseman Roman Martin. Right fielder AJ Salgado made it three straight batters on base, as Brayden Martin couldn’t make the sliding defensive play.
Joey McMannis walked in the next batter, scoring the game’s first run. With a chance to get the inning’s first out, Eddie Hacopian couldn’t glove the ball at third base, allowing it to roll into the outfield as two runs scored. The defensive blunders continued, as left fielder Jacob Orr lost track of the ball on the next at-bat, tacking on two more runs.
McMannis’ nightmare inning continued. He put two more runners on before Bruins first baseman Mulivai Levu crushed a homer to center field, extending UCLA’s lead to 8-0 with no outs. This ended McMannis’s day, as Maryland (8-7, 1-2 Big Ten) sent in redshirt sophomore Brayden Ryan.
But this didn’t stop the Bruins’ offense. They got four hits off Ryan and added three more runs to extend the lead to 11-0.
“That’s got to get better,” Maryland head coach Matt Swope said. “We had a couple of plays defensively, but the game was pretty much out of hand from there.”
Maryland’s offense looked to get back on track, loading the bases with only one out in the bottom half of the inning. But Martin hit into a double play, ending the inning with no runs for the Terps.
Ryan got back on track in the top half of the third, pitching a 1-2-3 inning. Meanwhile, Maryland’s offense got on the board as right fielder Aden Hill dropped a double into left field to score Eddie Hacopian from second. UCLA starter Landon Stump then walked Orr, loading the bases with two outs, but Liam Wilson struck out. And so, for the second straight inning, the Terps failed to capitalize with the bases loaded.
Ryan pitched a second straight 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fourth, while Maryland also went down in order. Freshman Cristofer Melendez replaced Ryan in the fifth, allowing only one man on base in the inning. On the offensive end, the middle of the Terps’ order were due up.
Maryland put its second run on the board in the fifth inning with a double from Alex Calarco, followed by Hill’s second RBI of the game on a single to left field.
Graduate Devin Milberg entered the game for the Terps in the sixth and pitched a scoreless inning. In the bottom half, sophomore Michael Iannazzo came in to pinch hit, driving a single to left field. Martin knocked his first hit of the day in the leadoff spot after Iannazzo advanced to second, driving an RBI single into right field to cut the deficit to 11-3.
Sixth-year pitcher Logan Koester made his first appearance of the season in the seventh, recording another scoreless inning. After the first two batters struck out to open the bottom half for the Terps, Hill and Orr delivered back-to-back singles to right field. This brought up Iannazzo for his second at-bat, where he smoked a two-RBI double down the first-base line to make it 11-5.
“He’s been professional and gone about his business the right way,” Swope said of Iannazzo. “Gave us a little spark there. He’ll continue to get his opportunity.”
Maryland’s bullpen continued to deliver in the eighth inning, as sophomore right-hander Andrew Koshy pitched out of a jam after allowing two walks. However, the top of the order couldn’t put any runs on the board on offense.
Senior Andrew Johnson pitched the sixth straight scoreless inning in the ninth for Maryland, but the offense left both runners on in the bottom half, as Elijah Lambros grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the game.
“Happy about them,” Swope said regarding the bullpen. “Few guys got in there; it’s good to see them bounce back.”
Three things to know
1. McMannis struggled. McMannis only pitched one full inning, allowing seven earned runs on six hits before being pulled in the second.
2. Second-inning nightmare. UCLA scored all of its 11 runs in the second inning, punishing McMannis and Ryan.
3. The bullpen delivers. Despite the early season struggles, Maryland’s bullpen was electric Sunday, as six pitchers combined to allow just one hit after the second inning.
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