The Indiana Hoosiers (17-14, 2-2) combined for 19 hits Friday against the Maryland Terrapins (21-9, 3-4) to take the series opener in College Park.

Although the game ultimately ended as a lopsided affair, the Terps were first on the board at “The Bob.”

Despite starting off the inning with back to back outs from Brayden Martin and Chris Hacopian, the Terps were not deterred. Eddie Hacopian took Ty Bothwell deep to left-center field to give Maryland an early 1-0 advantage.

The Hoosiers responded quickly. Cleanup hitter Tyler led off with a double to right, then Nick Mitchell followed with a single to move a runner to third. First baseman Joey Brenczewski grounded a ball off of Kevin Keister’s glove for an infield hit to bring home the game-tying run in the top of the second.

Lipmann picked up an out on an infield fly from Jake Stadler, but a walk to Josh Pyne loaded the bases for Indiana. However, the Terps’ starter settled in, recording back to back outs to escape the jam and keep the game knotted up at one.

He would not be as fortunate in the top of the third. 

Freshman Jasen Oliver led off the inning with a single to right, then advanced to second on an errant pickoff attempt from Lipmann. He was driven in on a double from Nick Mitchell, and a Joey ​​Brenczewski single made it 3-1 Indiana.

The Hoosiers weren’t done for the third. A passed ball allowed another run to cross home plate, making it 4-1. Jake Stadler followed with an RBI double down the left-field line to continue the Indiana onslaught. It was 5-1 Hoosiers after three.

The Terps’ offense got back to work in the bottom of the fourth. Sam Hojnar reached on a dropped third strike and was sent to third on a Kevin Keister single. Jacob Orr followed with a single of his own to bring Hojnar home and cut Indiana’s lead down to three.

Alex Calarco hit a sacrifice fly to center to bring home another run, then Jordan Crosland lined a single to right to make it a 5-4 game. Maryland would get runners of first and second afterward, but failed to bring either home.

Indiana made up for their scoreless fourth in the fifth. The inning started with Kenny Lipmann hitting Nick Mitchell on his first pitch in the fifth, then Joey Brenczewski continued his incredible outing with an RBI double to the left-field corner. Lipmann kept the Hoosiers in check after that, limiting the damage to just one run for the inning.

Ty Bothwell shut down the Maryland offense in the bottom half of the inning. Indiana’s lefty had a near-immaculate inning, striking out all three of the Terps’ batters on just 11 pitches.

Kenny Lippman did the same in the top of the sixth. Maryland’s right-hander worked around a pair of Hoosier walks with a three-K inning, keeping Indiana’s lead at 6-4.

Those were the last innings of work for both starters. Maryland’s Lippman ended his day with eight hits, three walks, six runs and five strikeouts in his six innings.

“Kenny’s got to be better. Simple as that,” head coach Matt Swope said after the game. “We’ve got to have a better start out of him.”

Meanwhile, Indiana’s Bothwell only surrendered four runs in his six innings, striking out seven Terps along the way.

Indiana capitalized off Maryland’s bullpen in the seventh.

Evan Smith was Matt Swope’s first call to the bullpen. The freshman lefty walked leadoff hitter Nick Mitchell and sent him to second base on a wild pitch. Jake Stadler picked up his second RBI of the evening, singling home the Hoosiers’ seventh run. 

The Terps nearly did the same in the bottom half of the seventh.

Maryland roughed up the Hoosiers’ first reliever, right-hander Ethan Phillips. Phillips only lasted two-thirds of an inning, walking two Terp hitters before Indiana went back to the bullpen. Brandon Keyster came in for the Hoosiers and only needed one pitch to force a hard-hit Sam Hojnar lineout and hold Indiana’s 7-4 lead.

“There was Hojnar’s right in the seventh. A really, really good swing,” Swope said. “That’s baseball, right, like it’s a hammer right there, it’s tied.”

Indiana struck again in the eighth. Logan Ott nearly escaped the inning unscathed despite a two-out double from Tyler Cerny, but Nick Mitchell refused to back down at the plate. Indiana’s right fielder fouled off three full-count offerings before recording his second RBI of the night on a single to right.

That opened up the inning for the Hoosiers.

Joey Brenczewski pushed Mitchell to third on a single, then Jake Stadler brought him home on a single. With runners on first and second, third baseman Josh Pyne doubled the center to bring home two more. After eight, the Hoosiers held a 9-4 lead.

Just for good measure, the Hoosiers added some more insurance in the very cold ninth inning. 

Swope called to the bullpen once more, bringing in freshman Duke McCarron for the ninth. Jasen Oliver and Tyler Cerny each singled for Indiana before Nick Mitchell ended his four RBI outing by driving in the pair with a double.

McCarron then hit back to back Hoosiers to load the bases for Josh Pyne. Pyne smacked a single to center, adding two more for Indiana.

That was thankfully the end, as the Hoosiers brought in Jacob vogel to polish off a 15-4 win in the series opener.

Despite allowing 15 runs, Maryland quite impressively held Indiana’s top two bats in Devin Taylor and Carter Mathison to a combined 0-12.

“Yeah man. If you showed me that before the game I’d have bet a lot of money on a win.” Swope said.

Those are the kinds of positives that the Terps need to embrace going into the rest of the series.