Michigan’s Will Rogers had the chance to play hero– for the third time in the game.

The two-way player entered the game in the fifth and promptly hit a game-tying three-run shot before trading in his catcher’s mitt to enter in relief and preserve a one-run lead in the eighth. 

With the right-hander one out away from sending the Terps to a series-opening loss, Eddie Hacopian laced a go-ahead two-run single to put the self-described “Cardiac Terps” ahead for good in a wild 11-9 win over the Wolverines Friday night at Michigan’s Ray Fisher Stadium.

After two walk-offs last weekend against Michigan State, Maryland delivered its 11th come-from-behind win of the season. 

“The guys honestly believe that no matter what the situation is, they can come back and win,” Terps head coach Matt Swope said. 

Hacopian agreed. “Whenever we get down late, we straighten things together.”

“It must be something in the water.” 

In a game that seemed over after the Terps stormed out to a 5-0 lead in three innings, the Wolverines clawed back with a five-run fourth highlighted by Will Rogers’ pinch-hit home run. But for a team that has had a flair for the dramatic all season long, Maryland promptly struck back in the sixth with Chris Hacopian’s team-leading seventh home run, which was confirmed over one of the contest’s five replay reviews.

In the seventh, Michigan’s second-year head coach Tracy Smith turned to his bench for an offensive lift and again, it delivered. Freshman Jack Counsell tied the game at six on a sac fly before third baseman Cole Caruso split the left field gap with a go-ahead RBI double.

The drama spilled into the eighth, with Rogers taking the mound and pitching out of a one-out, two-run jam before pushing across a single that led to a crucial insurance run in the bottom half. 

The right-hander’s remarkable afternoon came to an abrupt end in the ninth. Following two walks, a hit by pitch and a wild pitch, freshman Brayden Martin came to the plate. After hitting two walk-offs last weekend against Michigan State, Martin did damage against the Spartans’ in-state rivals with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 8-7. 

Two hitters later, Eddie Hacopian’s two-run single erased the Terps’ ninth inning deficit. While coming to the plate, the older Hacopian brother relished the opportunity in front of him. 

“When I was walking up, I was just salivating. I was licking my lips, I was so ready,” he said. “I live for those moments, man. There’s nothing better than that and to get the job done for my team is really something special.”

Maryland entered the bottom half up 11-8 after Sam Hojnar and Kevin Keister followed Hacopian’s go-ahead hit with two more run-scoring singles. 

The Wolverines fought back to get within two before the game fittingly ended on one more dramatic sequence. Grad transfer Mack Timbrook poked a ball into shallow right-center field before Hojnar knocked it down. Kyle Dernedde, the runner on first, thought the ball kicked past the second baseman and tried taking third. Hojnar easily threw out the graduate student with a strong throw from the edge of the outfield turf to clinch the Terps’ 11th come-from-behind win this season. 

Maryland continued its late-inning dominance this season, now outscoring opponents 52-19 in the eighth inning or later. The Terps scored 11 runs for the second consecutive game, with Hojnar collecting a career-high four hits, including RBIs in the first, second and night innings. Freshman Chris Hacopian reached base five times to extend his on-base streak to 19 games.  

After a strong first three innings, Terps’ starter Kenny Lippman lasted only one out in the fourth after being tagged for five runs on five hits in the frame. His earned run average ballooned to a season-worst 5.46. Michigan starter Dylan Vigue fared similarly, surrendering a career-high 10 hits and five earned runs.

The Terps look for their second Big Ten series win of the season as they face the Wolverines tomorrow at 2 p.m.