In what seemed to be a back-and-forth game early, Maryland outdueled Minnesota in the final few innings to secure its second series win of the season.

As Joey McMannis struggled early in his start, quick responses on offense kept the Terps in the game. After Maryland gained a lead in the later half of the ballgame, shutdown performances out of the bullpen from Logan Hastings and Christopher Cespedes secured the 8-5 Saturday victory for the Terps. 

Minnesota got on the board early. Redshirt senior Josh Fitzgerald singled and stole second to reach scoring position. Fitzgerald later came across as back-to-back RBI singles gave the Golden Gophers a 2-0 lead after the first frame.

The Dirty Terps quickly responded to start the second as they took a 4-2 lead via four-straight RBI base hits. 

After Jacob Orr and Elijah Lambros both reached base with walks, Paul Jones II, the hometown kid, laced an RBI single to center in his first at-bat of the day. Three more run-scoring singles from Brayden Martin, Chris Hacopian and Hollis Porter put Maryland in front. 

In the bottom of the inning, right-hander Joey McMannis recorded a strikeout and gave up a walk to begin his return to the mound. Following the walk, Minnesota’s Jake Larson lined a ball to left, where Eddie Hacopian made the catch and fired a perfect throw to first to double up the runner and end the inning. 

But the Gophers didn’t go quietly. Minnesota started chipping away at its deficit in the bottom of the fourth.

McMannis gave up a leadoff double to sophomore Jack Spanier to begin the bottom of the frame. After a sacrifice bunt allowed him to reach third, Spanier scored as Jameson Martin executed a squeeze play that cut Maryland’s lead to 4-3.

Jameson Martin then reached second on an error and stole third base. With the tying run 90 feet away, McMannis gave up his second walk of the afternoon, spelling an end to his time on the mound.

McMannis’ line ended at 3.1 innings pitched. He gave up six hits, two walks, five runs (two earned), and recorded two strikeouts. 

Maryland head coach Matt Swope turned to freshman right-hander Logan Hastings to escape the fourth. 

The first batter Hastings faced resulted in a costly error charged to Brayden Martin. It allowed a pair of runs to score as Minnesota took a 5-4 lead.

Following the error, Hastings recorded the final two outs to end the inning.

Once again, the Dirty Terps quickly responded as Alex Calarco crushed his 17th home run of the season to level the score at 5-5. 

Hastings returned to the mound for the bottom of the fifth and set the Gophers down in order. 

For the second-straight inning, the Terps hit a leadoff homer to begin the frame. This time, it was Chris Hacopian launching a ball over the centerfield wall to give Maryland the 6-5 lead. 

Following another 1-2-3 inning for Hastings in the sixth, Maryland created a genuine opportunity to gain a comfortable lead in the seventh.

After a single, a hit by pitch, and a walk, the Terps had loaded the bases with two outs. However, Gophers reliever Eli Sundquist stranded all three runners by inducing a foul out from Chris Hacopian. 

The Gophers didn’t score in the bottom of the seventh, but Porter was forced to exit the game after a scary collision on a play that ended the inning. 

Hastings fell into trouble for the first time on Saturday, in the bottom of the eighth. He walked the first two batters of the inning and gave up a sacrifice bunt that moved both runners into scoring position.

After the bunt, Swope pulled Hastings and turned to freshman Christopher Cespedes.

The right-hander got a swinging strikeout from the first batter he faced, before escaping the inning with a groundout. 

The Terps added insurance runs by scoring a pair in the top of the ninth.

Aden Hill led off the inning with a home run over the right field wall. After recording two outs, Sundquist then walked Brayden Martin.

Minnesota turned to left-hander Noah Rooney. He immediately walked Chris Hacopian upon entry. With Brayden Martin on second and Chris Hacopian on first, Parker Corbin, who entered to replace Porter, singled up the middle to bring in another run.

Maryland entered the bottom of the ninth leading 8-5.

Swope sent Cespedes back out to the mound to close out the game.

Cespedes quickly found himself in trouble. Chris Hacopian and Brayden Martin committed errors, with a strikeout in between. Cespedes then walked a batter as the Gophers loaded the bases with one out.  

Cespedes found a way to escape, though. He forced a flyout and a fielder’s choice, solidifying his first collegiate save with an 8-5 win for the Terps.

Maryland will look for its first series sweep of the season after winning the first two games of the series versus Minnesota. 

First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. tomorrow. Tune into MBN where Jack Susanin will have the call of Sunday’s series finale.