Friday night’s contest between Maryland and Indiana was going well for the visiting Terps until it suddenly wasn’t.  

On a night where the offense was strong early and backed up by yet another strong outing by Kyle McCoy, the bullpen failed once again. A 5-run eighth inning cost the Terps another lead late in a game. Freshman Will Moore then delivered the final blow with a two-out walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. 

Indiana took game one of the weekend series 7-6, as the Terps remained winless in Big Ten series openers this season. 

McCoy and Indiana starter Jackson Yarberry got off to similarly solid starts. Both quickly got two outs before allowing a baserunner in the first frame. However, both pitchers got the final out without any further trouble. 

Yarberry didn’t enjoy similar success in the following inning.

Jacob Orr reached on a fielder’s choice before the Terps loaded the bases on a double from Willson and a walk by Lambros. 

Eddie Hacopian promptly unloaded the bases, crushing an 0-1 pitch to straight away center field for a grand slam, which landed just beside the trees beyond the center field fence. This marked his sixth home run of the season — and first grand slam of the year. The knock put Maryland up 4-0, and Yarberry was able to get out of the inning following the blast.

McCoy got some help from his defense in the bottom of the second. Lambros robbed Caleb Koskie of extra bases with an impressive sliding catch in right center, which helped McCoy to a 1-2-3 inning. 

Left-handed senior Ryan Kraft relieved Yarberry for the third. 

Facing the fresh arm, Hollis Porter reached on a fielder’s choice. Alex Calarco then grounded out to third, crucially advancing Porter to second. Orr then singled to left, bringing Porter in to increase the Terps’ lead to 5-0 after two and a half innings.

The Terps outfield displayed more acrobatics in the third. Willson made a full-extension diving catch, robbing Moore of a base hit for the first out of the frame. However, there couldn’t be defensive help for what followed.

Still in the third, Indiana worked the bases loaded thanks to a walk and two singles. With the Maryland infield playing back, Jake Hanley grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Schuyler. 

McCoy then hit Tyler Cerny to reload the bases. But the Terps’ ace induced a groundout to escape the frame with just one run allowed. 

McCoy continued the trend of working himself out of trouble in the fourth. 

With runners on the corners and two out, outfielder Devin Taylor came up to the plate and worked an amazing at-bat that featured five straight foul balls. But McCoy won the battle, setting down the projected first-round MLB draft pick on a checked swing. 

The Indiana foot traffic continued in the bottom of the fifth.

Following a leadoff double by Korbyn Dickerson, McCoy got two quick outs on Hanley and Cerny. Koskie then grounded into an unorthodox fielder’s choice. Koskie was safe at first, but Dickerson got caught in a rundown between second and third, with Orr ultimately tagging him out.

The Terps finally added to their lead in the top of the seventh. Martin led off with a walk and advanced to second on a one-out single by Porter. Calarco doubled off the top of the wall in right center field to score Martin, his 50th RBI of the season. At that point, the Terps led 6-1.

This also marked the end of Kraft’s day. He held Maryland to just two runs over 4.1 innings. 

The bottom of the seventh was a dominant one for McCoy, mowing down the Hoosier hitters in order on three straight strikeouts.

Following the leadoff double from Dickerson in the fifth, McCoy recorded nine consecutive outs, including five straight strikeouts. That made for eight total K’s on the day over 7+ innings of work.

While he got himself into trouble on multiple occasions early, McCoy never faltered under the high pressure situations, giving up four runs on six hits. In the innings where he didn’t struggle, however, McCoy looked like his vintage dominant self. 

McCoy returned to the mound for the eighth inning, looking to continue his impressive performance. The game quickly went sideways for Maryland though. 

McCoy’s stretch of nine consecutive outs ended with back-to-back hits by Hanley and Cerny, putting runners on second and third. This marked the end of an impressive night for McCoy, who got an ovation from the visiting crowd as he walked off the mound.

Andrew Johnson came into the game with nobody out in the eighth. He got Koskie to strike out for the first out, but Denny singled to left, bringing in both Hanley and Cerny. Malamazian then followed up with a two-run homer to left field, bringing the Hoosiers to within one run. 

The Terps 6-5 lead didn’t last long either.

Moore worked a long walk, bringing Johnson’s day to an end. Cristofer Cespedes came in to try and get the Terps out of the jam. His first batter faced was Jake Stadler, who replaced Schuyler at catcher. 

Moore put himself in scoring position by stealing second. Stadler flew out to center, but that allowed Moore to take third. Taylor — representing the go-ahead run — was intentionally walked, as Maryland coach Matt Swope chose to pitch to Dickerson instead. 

That decision proved costly as he reached on an infield single, which brought in the tying run. 

With the Hoosiers still threatening, Cespedes struck out Hanley to end the inning. Nevertheless, the damage was done as the game was tied at six apiece.

Indiana reliever Ben Grable preserved the tie in the top of the ninth, getting a quick 1-2-3 inning to send the Hoosier offense back to the plate.

Cespedes hit the first batter he faced in the ninth in Cerny. A pickoff attempt gone awry allowed Cerny to scamper to third, putting the winning run just 90 feet away. Koskie got hit by the first pitch he saw, bringing Joey Brenczewski up to the plate in place of Denny. 

Cespedes managed consecutive strikeouts of Brenczewski and Malamazian, bringing some hope to Maryland fans. That was short-lived, though, as Moore singled to left center, bringing in Cerny to win the game, 7-6.

First pitch of game two between Maryland and Indiana is scheduled for Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Nate Schwartz will once again be on the call for MBN.