Trailing 6-2 and desperate for offense, Alex Calarco doubled to give Maryland life against Washington in the top of the sixth. Two batters later Jacob Orr stepped up to the plate and smacked a ball off the left-field wall to bring home Calarco and cut the deficit down to three.

That’s where the Terps’ comeback effort stalled on Friday night. 

The Huskies halted any late-inning heroics from Maryland’s offense with five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Washington eventually beat Maryland 12-4 at Husky Ballpark — a game that ended in the wee hours of the morning on the East Coast. 

Maryland (11-11, 1-3 Big Ten) only plated two runs in the first innings despite beginning the game with bases loaded and nobody out. The first one crossed home when Huskies (10-13, 3-1 Big Ten) starter Max Banks plunked Calarco with a fastball. The Terps then added another when Orr had a productive groundout.

Washington halved its deficit in the bottom of the inning when Malakhi Knight drove in a run with a single up the middle.

The Huskies continued chipping away over the next few innings.

Washington tied the game with an unearned run in the third off a pair of defensive blunders by Maryland. The Huskies then took a 4-2 lead with a pair of runs in the fourth.

During that same time, Maryland’s offense couldn’t record a hit and only one batter managed to reach base. 

After the adverse first inning, Banks found a rhythm. In his first start since Feb. 28, the right-hander tossed 1-2-3 frames in the second and third.

Those three innings would be it for Banks, who was being eased back into the rotation after his lengthy absence. He surrendered two runs on two hits with one walk and two strikeouts in his three innings of work.

Reilly McAdams continued taming Maryland’s offense. Washington’s regular Friday starter threw six innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts in relief.

On the other side, Maryland ace Kyle McCoy had fluctuating fortunes in his West Coast outing. The Terps’ righty allowed one earned run in his first three innings, but frustrations began to boil over in the fourth after the Huskies started stacking singles.

McCoy finished the night with six runs (five earned), on eight hits with two walks and six K’s in 4.2 innings.

The Huskies tacked on six more runs in the final 3.1 innings against the Maryland bullpen. Two of those runs came on a Blake Wilson home run, a man who is now a certified “Terp killer” according to MBN broadcaster Jack Susanin.

Maryland’s offense simply never woke up in a non-existent response. 

The Terps had four baserunners and scored two runs in the first inning. Maryland had six baserunners the rest of the game.

Included in that collection of six was a solo homer by Calarco in the eighth inning. The blast didn’t affect the outcome in any way, but it was the senior catcher’s first homer in nearly two weeks. His 11 home runs still lead the team by a considerable margin. 

Maryland looks to even the series on Saturday. Jack Susanin will be on the call for MBN again, and the first pitch from Seattle is scheduled for 10:05 p.m. EST.