It was early trouble that doomed the Terps on Tuesday night. Georgetown brought in seven runs in the first three innings to run Maryland starter Brayden Ryan out of the game early.

For the Hoyas, it was Kavi Caster homering twice and Connor Price’s three-run homer in the first that gave Georgetown the offense it needed in an 11-8 win.

Hollis Porter was the only Terp who consistently brought runs in, driving in five of the team’s eight runs. He hit two home runs to bring his season total to 18, putting him 8th on the Terps single-season home run list.

Hoyas’ starter Griffin O’Connor started strong on Tuesday, mowing down the Terps in order in the top of the first. 

Ryan got the nod for Maryland. The right-handed redshirt sophomore immediately gave up a solo home run to leadoff hitter Kavi Caster, who crushed the first pitch he saw over the right field fence.

The early home run flustered Ryan, as he proceeded to give up back-to-back singles to Jeremy Sheffield and Owen Carapellotti. 

The three straight hits prompted an early visit from his teammates to try and calm him down. It didn’t work. 

Connor Price worked a long at bat, fouling off several pitches before he finally got a hold of one. He crushed a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence. 

The Hoyas, courtesy of four straight hits, quickly led 4-0.

Maryland pitching coach Jimmy Jackson came out for a mound visit. This time, the talk was successful as Ryan found composure. Three batters later, he was out of the inning, sending the Terps up for their second at-bats.

O’Connor’s solid production from the first took a turn for the worse in the second.

Chris Hacopian started the top of the second with a double down the left field line, advancing to third on a throwing error by Caster in left field. 

Hollis Porter then took advantage of the hitter-friendly Capital One Park, driving one over the fence in left-center to cut the Hoya lead in half. Porter’s home run was his team-leading 17th of the season, breaking a tie with Alex Calarco entering the game.

O’Connor settled back into a rhythm following the Porter blast, getting three straight outs to get out of the inning.

Following the rocky first inning, Ryan proceeded to record 6 straight outs, including 3 strikeouts during that span.

Paul Jones II started the third with a leadoff double, giving the Terps early momentum again. He advanced 90 feet on a ground out from Brayden Martin. Jones then scored on another ground out, this time from Jacob Orr. The Terps were within one at 4-3.

Jeremy Sheffield led off the bottom of the third with a double to right field and was brought in by a Carapellotti single, extending Georgetown’s lead back to two.

Carapellotti later came in to score on a fielder’s choice, as the Hoyas also added a seventh run on a sacrifice fly. 

With a 7-3 deficit, Maryland Head Coach Matt Swope made a change on the bump. Ryan finished the day giving up seven earned runs in 2.2 innings. 

Freshman Logan Hastings came in to relieve Ryan and, after some traffic, got a strikeout to end the brutal third inning. 

O’Connor recorded 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and fifth, shutting down the Terps’ offense.

Hastings got a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, but the fifth spelled a little trouble for the freshman. 

A one-out walk and single for Schaaf and Larkins, respectively, put runners on first and second. Jaden Sheffield lined one to left field, which would have normally brought a run in, however, a perfect throw by Eddie Hacopian got Schaaf out at the plate for the second out.

Hastings used that run-saving play to record a strikeout of Pfau, escaping the jam.

O’Connor recorded nine consecutive outs dating back to the third inning to end his day. Axel Johnson was called on in relief and recorded a third consecutive 1-2-3 inning for the Hoyas.

Hastings did his job for his 2.1 innings of work, but departed for the bottom of the sixth. Andrew Johnson replaced him. The lefty surrendered another run in the sixth on an RBI double. 

The Terps squandered a scoring opportunity in the ensuing half inning, and Georgetown responded immediately. 

Devin Milberg replaced Andrew Johnson for the bottom of the seventh. He got two strikeouts early, but Jaden Sheffield took advantage of the wind and homered to left field. Milberg settled down to retire Pfau for the third out of the inning.

Jake Anderson replaced Axel Johnson for the eighth inning to face the top of Maryland’s order. Jacob Orr singled and was replaced at first by Eddie Hacopian after a fielder’s choice. Chris Hacopian singled, putting two runners on base.

Hollis Porter stepped up in a big spot and delivered. His second home run of the day brought the Terps back to just a three-run deficit at 9-6. A much more manageable number, but the Terps still had work to do in the ninth as Alex Calarco grounded out to end the inning.

Milberg came back out for the eighth inning and surrendered a solo home run to Kavi Caster, his second of the game, to extend the Hoyas’ lead back to four.

Carapellotti walked, and Price doubled him home to make it an 11-6 ballgame before Milberg was able to get out of the inning.

Matthew Sapienza came in for the ninth, looking for the final three outs. The Terps plated a pair and had a chance to level the score, but Chris Hacopian ultimately popped out to end the game. 

Georgetown took home the victory with a final score of 11-8.

Maryland will be back in action on the road on Friday evening to start a three-game series against Penn State. Nathan Schwartz will be on the call for the MBN during the series.