For the first time since April 2021, the Maryland Terrapins have lost a Big Ten series. 23 consecutive Big Ten series, 1,085 days, three NCAA regionals and the streak has finally come to an end.

After a thrilling come-from-behind victory on Friday night, the Terps were unable to keep the momentum going into Saturday, making Sunday yet another rubber match. 

For the first three innings Sunday afternoon, it seemed like more of the same from Saturday. The Wolverines jumped on Joey McMannis early, scoring two in the 2nd and adding another in the third, thanks to a pair of doubles from Stephen Hrustich and an RBI single from Collin Priest.

However, unlike Saturday, the Terps bounced back. After blanking Maryland the first time through the order, Mitch Voit finally showed signs of weakness in the third. Eddie Hacopian continued his excellent season leading off the inning with a line drive home run. Just two batters later Kevin Keister followed in Hacopian’s footsteps and crushed a no-doubt blast over the fence in left, tying up the score at three.

After a bit of a bumpy start, Joey McMannis settled in nicely, retiring five of the last six batters he faced.

Elijah Lambros added to his team-leading RBI count by hitting a moonshot to left to lead off the top of the fifth inning. The Terps continued to threaten in the inning but were unable to bring home any more runs.

After just four innings, Maryland sent out southpaw Omar Melendez to take over on the mound in the bottom of the fifth. Although Michigan was able to scratch across the tying run, Melendez successfully escaped a one out jam.

After escaping a jam in the top of the sixth, stranding runners on first and third, Voit stepped up to the plate with two outs and a runner on third in the bottom half of the inning, looking to give Michigan back the lead. He did more than just take back the lead; Voit demolished his fourth home run of the season, this one a no-doubt bomb to put the Wolverines back ahead by two.

Doing his best Shohei Ohtani impression, Voit trotted back out to the mound in the top of the seventh, setting down Maryland in order, leaving the Terps with just six outs remaining to salvage their consecutive Big Ten series victories streak.

Alex Walsh toed the rubber in the bottom of the seventh, looking to shut down Michigan and keep Maryland in striking distance. After a hit by pitch and four-pitch walk, Walsh was in big trouble. Mack Timbrook, who came into the game hitting just .228, immediately made Walsh pay. Timbrook crushed yet another no-doubt home run, this time over the scoreboard in right field, extending the Wolverines lead to five.

Voit exited the game after an impressive seven inning performance, striking out six and only walking two. Kurt Barr entered in relief of Voit and quickly ended any hopes of a Maryland comeback in the eighth.

Despite earning the nickname “Cardiac Terps” due to their multitude of late-inning comebacks this season, Maryland was unable to do anything in the ninth, going down in order. For the first time since facing off against Nebraska in April 2021, Maryland lost a series in Big Ten play.

Aside from the three home runs, another bright spot for Maryland was Sam Hojnar. After recording a single-game career-high four hits in Friday night’s thriller, Hojnar was held hitless on Saturday. He bounced back in a big way on Sunday, going two for four and scoring a run.

The Terps will look to bounce back on Tuesday evening when they take on the UMBC Golden Retrievers.