Bottom of the tenth, down one, bases loaded, one out with Brayden Martin at the plate. Martin lined the second pitch he saw to deep right field, scoring two as the Maryland dugout rushed the field.

Maryland (17-5, 1-0 Big Ten) kicked off conference play with a 7-6 comeback win over Michigan State (8-11, 0-1) in College Park on Friday.

The Terps were already on the doorstep of a win in the ninth until Michigan State quickly came back.

Maryland was one out away as Sam Thompson came to the plate. Thompson hit a home run in his last at-bat and looked to continue the heroics. In a full count, Thompson hit a single up the middle, just past the glove of Logan Berrier to tie the game at five.

The Michigan State heroics continued in the tenth. With two outs, Dillon Kark scored on a wild pitch. Despite the momentum shift, the Spartans couldn’t find a way to win as the pitching imploded in the tenth.

Jacob Orr reached on an infield single and was advanced after a five-pitch walk followed by a hit-by-pitch, leading to Martin’s walkoff.

The Terps came back from a three-run deficit, similar to the win against James Madison on Tuesday. Michigan State’s first three batters each hit a double off Kenny Lippman to jump out to the early lead.

Despite this, Lippman found success in the rest of his start, not allowing another run. The right-hander finished allowing eight hits and three earned runs with four strikeouts and no walks in six innings.

Jordan Crosland put Maryland on the board with a solo home run to lead off the second inning. The Terps threatened to score again in the inning, putting runners on first and second but failed to score.

Crosland had the best offensive game of his young college career and sparked the Maryland offense in the second inning. The freshman went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a walk and two runs.

Stranding runners plagued the Maryland offense for a portion of the afternoon, leaving six runners on in the first three innings. On the afternoon, the Terps left 13 runners on base, compared to the Spartans’ five.

The offense shook the struggles in the fourth inning, scoring three runs capped off by Orr’s two-RBI home run. Catcher Devin Russell started the inning with a double and scored after Chris Hacopian hit a double of his own. The explosive inning put the Terps up 4-3, their first lead of the day.

Crosland scored on a bunt, showing off his speed and adding to the lead in the fifth. Elijah Lambros bunted to the first baseman who quickly threw home but Crosland’s slide evaded the tag. Crosland came home so fast, he slid into the feet of the home plate umpire.

Trystan Sarcone made one mistake allowing a solo home run, to Sam Thompson. The left-hander put it out of his mind and struck out the next three batters. 

Despite the Michigan State comeback, Maryland still found a way to win. With the win, Maryland remains atop the Big Ten standings. The first pitch for game two is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday but with rainy conditions expected, that time may change.