Maryland entered Sunday’s series finale against Northwestern on the losing end of Saturday’s 18-8 beatdown. Following the defeat, Terps head coach Matt Swope said that the only thing that mattered in the final game of the weekend series was “competing and pride.”

The Dirty Terps took that message to heart, crushing five home runs in a 22-11 run-rule stomping of the Wildcats on a beautiful afternoon at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.

The Terps (14-14, 3-6 Big Ten) started scoring immediately. 

After getting the first two Maryland batters to fly out in the bottom of the first, Northwestern (12-13, 5-4 Big Ten) opener Amar Tsengeg plunked Chris Hacopian. The next man up, Alex Calarco, cashed in by launching a two-run bomb over the center field batter’s eye to put the Terps ahead 2-0.

Maryland refused to look back from there.

The first-inning two-out rally continued, as a Hollis Porter single followed by an Aden Hill double put runners at second and third for Jacob Orr. The senior outfielder delivered, knocking a single up the middle to drive both runners in and extend the lead to four.

“I was most proud of the way they answered right off the bat,” Swope said. “[After] two really rough days and to come out and score in the first like that and answer, I think is a testament to … the guys.​​ … They’re still fighting.”

Calarco continued his Sunday afternoon tear in his second at-bat, this time with both Hacopian brothers occupying the bases. For the second straight inning, the former Wildcat crushed a two-out home run. That blast ballooned Maryland’s lead to seven. 

“We just got to flip the page and be as positive as possible with this game,” Calarco said of the team’s mindset heading into the afternoon. “You kind of felt it in the locker room today. It was just a different kind of energy, and we all just really talked about playing for each other.”

Already holding a commanding lead, the Dirty Terps essentially put the game to bed in the third. Eddie Hacopian joined Calarco in the long ball festivities. The Maryland captain crushed his third homer of the year — a two-run shot that, like Calarco’s, sailed over the center field batter’s eye. 

Two batters later, Porter added to the home run derby by smashing the Terps’ fourth blast of the afternoon — this one put the Terps up by double digits.

Following back-to-back walks and a pitching change, Liam Willson stepped to the plate as the lone Terp in the starting lineup who was yet to reach base. But that quickly changed, as Willson lined a double to the right field wall, driving in both baserunners to cap off Maryland’s seven-run third.

With back-to-back RBI doubles in the fourth, the Terps could seemingly coast to a seventh-inning run-rule victory.

Freshman starter Jake Yeager cruised through his first four innings, only allowing one run on a Jack Lausch leadoff homer to begin the third. 

But after Maryland’s extended, half-an-hour-long bottom of the fourth inning, Yeager looked shaky as he returned to the bump in the fifth. The righty got caught in a base loaded, one-out jam after allowing back-to-back singles and a walk. 

Junior Owen McElfatrick made Yeager pay by crushing a grand slam. Jackson Freeman, the next batter up, then followed suit by cranking a solo shot to knock Yeager out of the game.

“If you have a 40-minute inning, the focus and the intent and all those things are really important within those time frames,” Swope said. “In order to become a professional, the game is against yourself. It isn’t against the opponent.”

Still up by 12, Maryland turned to relief pitcher Andrew Koshy. After striking out his first batter, Koshy appeared to escape the inning after getting Trent Liolios to pop up. But shortstop Chris Hacopian lost the ball in the sun, allowing Liolios to reach safely.

Chris Hacopian’s error led to two unearned Northwestern runs, narrowing Maryland’s lead to eight as it also fell out of run-rule range.

With Maryland leading 17-9, it needed two runs over the next few frames to regather the mercy rule-initiating double-digit advantage The Terps got just that and a few more in the sixth.

The first three batters reached base, leading to a Chris Hacopian RBI groundout. Brayden Martin followed that up by scoring on a passed ball to put the Terps back above the run rule threshold. 

Porter then added to his stellar day, crushing his second home run — a three-run blast — and fifth hit of the afternoon to bring Maryland’s run total to 22. 

Despite allowing a two-run shot in the top of the seventh, reliever Andrew Johnson closed things out in the to secure Maryland’s wild win.

The Terps return to the friendly confines of “The Bob” when they face UMBC this Tuesday. First pitch of that midweek is set for 4 p.m., with Ben Strober and Jack Wynn on the call for MBN.