Paul Jones II had a large group of family and friends in the stands as he played in front of his hometown for the first time as a UMD student. He came up in a big spot in the top of the sixth inning and delivered.

With two on and two out, Jones smashed one over the fence in right center field. The three-run shot extended the Terps’ lead to six and powered Maryland (24-27, 9-16 Big Ten) to a series-opening 8-2 victory over Minnesota (22-25, 8-17 Big Ten) on Friday.

The Terps got off to a hot start in this one Friday night. 

Brayden Martin led off the game with a single on a weak grounder back to Minnesota starting pitcher Joe Sperry and advanced to second when the throw to first went into right field.

That brought Chris Hacopian up to the plate. Coming off an amazing series against Penn State last weekend where he went 9-14 with a home run and five RBI, Hacopian continued his hot stretch. The sophomore crushed a 2-0 pitch off the batter’s eye in center field to give Maryland an early 2-0 lead.

Maryland starter Kyle McCoy got off to a much better start than his opponent. 

Despite surrendering two-out hits in both the first and second innings, McCoy collected himself both times to escape jams and hold the Gophers off the scoreboard.

The Terps rewarded McCoy with more run support in the top of the third.

Chris Hacopian picked up his second knock of the contest, a double that sent Martin to third. Hollis Porter followed with a ground out, advancing both Maryland runners 90 feet, scoring Martin to extend the Maryland lead.

Maryland’s offense went cold for a couple of innings after the Terps gained their 3-0 lead, opening the door for Minnesota.

The Gophers got their offense going in the bottom of the fourth. 

Drew Berkland worked a four-pitch walk and Charlie Sutherland singled. Setting up Jake Perry’s two-run single to get Minnesota on the board.

With his team’s lead down to one, McCoy clutched up in the bottom of the fifth.

With runners on first and second with two outs, he drew a fly out from Easton Richter to end the threat and protect Maryland’s 3-2 advantage.

The Terps seized that momentum shift.

Porter led off the top of the sixth with a solo shot to left-center, his team-lead 21st blast of the season gave Maryland some breathing room before Jones broke the game open a few batters later.

McCoy navigated another jam in his seventh and final inning. He forced Weber Neels to ground into an inning-ending double play, making McCoy’s final line two runs on 10 hits with one walk and five strikeouts over seven innings, earning the win.

Maryland kept the basepaths busy in the eighth, but stayed off the scoreboard the rest of the night.

Ryan Van Buren came in to relieve McCoy for the eighth. He hit Richter with a pitch, but was able to work around it to escape the inning.

Van Buren came out for the ninth looking to sit down the Gophers for one final inning. He worked around a one-out double for Jake Larson to end the ballgame. The Terps took home game one of this three game series by a final score of 8-2.

With another Big Ten win secured, the Terps look to make it back to back series wins Saturday. First pitch from Minneapolis is scheduled for 4 p.m. eastern, and Jack Susanin will be on the call for MBN.