With the bases loaded, trailing 3-2 in the top of the second, Matt Swope called to the bullpen for Logan Koester.

Jackson Freeman, already 1-1 with an RBI double, was unphased. Northwestern’s right fielder launched a grand slam over the right field wall, giving the Wildcats a 7-2 lead and busting the game wide open.

Northwestern (12-12, 5-3 Big Ten) cruised to an 18-8 run-rule win over Maryland (13-14, 2-6 Big Ten) on Saturday in College Park.

The Wildcats roughed up Logan Hastings in the top of the first.

The first four Northwestern batters all reached safely, scoring one run in the process but loading up the bases for the ever-dangerous Trent Liolios. Hastings drew an infield fly from Liolios, but miscommunication between the Terps’ infielders let the ball hit the ground and allowed another Wildcat run to score.

Northwestern added its third run of the inning on a sacrifice fly, putting the Wildcats up 3-0 right away.

Maryland responded in the bottom of the first scoring two unearned runs. The first came on an Alex Calarco fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, then the second came right after on a Hollis Porter double, cutting Northwestern’s lead down to one.

Hastings struggled again in the second. He set up the Freeman grand slam when he loaded the bases to start the inning.

Freeman’s slam off Koester closed the book on Hastings, who gave up six runs on four hits with three walks and one strikeout in one official inning.

“Disappointed with the start today from Hastings,” head coach Matt Swope said after the loss. “But he’s been great so far and he’s also a freshman so it’s hard to really try to put a ton of pressure on him.”

Northwestern continued the offensive explosion in the top of the third. The Wildcats plated five more runs, three of them on a Freeman double with the bases loaded. The sophomore had a career day, driving in eight runs on three hits in the first three innings.

The Terps got a few back in the bottom of the third.

Porter continued his hot streak, driving in his second of the day with an RBI double. Maryland added two more in the half inning on an RBI groundout by Aden Hill and a one-run single from Elijah Lambros. Even with a three-run inning, Maryland still trailed 12-5.

Porter put more work in during the fourth, adding two more Maryland runs with his third double of the game. The Terps now trailed 12-7 and Porter had four RBIs in four innings.

During this comeback effort from the Terps, Ryan Van Buren stabilized Maryland’s pitching.

The three pitchers before him combined to give up 12 runs on 10 hits with five walks and three K’s in 2.2 innings. Van Buren pitched scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth before he simply ran out of gas and gave up some crucial runs in the sixth.

Omar Melezdez finished the sixth inning which featured six runs for the Wildcats, silencing the Maryland comeback and setting up the run-rule win. Maryland added one more in the sixth, but still trailed by 10 after seven to trigger the mercy rule.

Coach Swope has no concerns about the bullpen for Sunday despite using five different pitchers in this matchup.

“I don’t think it really matters if you’re going to give up 18,” he said. “Just trying to give different people opportunities.”

Head Coach Matt Swope did not mince words when discussing his goals for the series finale.

“At this point, we’re not really talking about series or all this stuff, it’s about competing and pride,” he said. “No matter what the situation is you got to have humility. You got to win or lose with humility, but you always have to compete.”

Nathan Schwartz and Daniel Stein will be on the call for MBN on Sunday where the Terps will hopefully show some of that “compete” against their conference rival. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.