Trailing by four with a runner in scoring position in the top of the fourth, Devin Russell stepped up to the box for the Dirty Terps.

Russell, starting at catcher and hitting ninth in the order, delivered, smacking a double to left center field to score Nate Hawton-Henley and bring his team within three.

After that, the offense dried up as Maryland (11-11, 1-4 B1G) lost 8-3 to No. 1 UCLA (20-2, 8-0 B1G) on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium, clinching the weekend series win for the Bruins.

Despite the late-game offensive woes, the Terps looked hot early.

Maryland broke the ice in the top of the first. 

David Mendez doubled down the left field line with one out, then two batters later, Rylen Stockton brought him home with an RBI double of his own. Those two extra base hits gave the Terps their first lead of the weekend in Los Angeles.

The nation’s top-ranked squad immediately responded in the bottom half of the first.

A pair of singles put runners on the corners for UCLA’s cleanup hitter, Roman Martin. Martin hit a double, tying the score and putting two runners in scoring position for Payton Brennan. The placement of the runners wouldn’t matter to Brennan though, as he launched a three-run home run over the left field wall to put the Bruins up 4-1 after the first.

Maryland remained scrappy, with Aden Hill hitting a home run of his own to right field to get one run back for the Terps in the top of the second. Maryland held UCLA off the scoreboard for the bottom half of the inning, but the Bruins got back to work on offense in the third.

Back-to-back singles plus a productive groundout left runners on second and third for Will Gasparino. The Big Ten’s leader in home runs fell short of the outfield wall, just hitting a sacrifice fly to score the runner on third. An RBI single from Cashel Dugger scored one more for UCLA that frame.

The Bruins loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth, spelling the end of the day for Maryland starter Evan Smith.

Smith finished with seven runs, six earned, on eight hits in 3.1 innings of work. The seventh run came after he left the game, with one of Cristofer Cespedes’ inherited runners scoring off a bases loaded walk.

Now trailing 7-3, the Terps needed some stability the rest of the way. Cespedes provided just that for Maryland.

While the offense got stuck on the basepaths, the Terps’ bullpen arm made sure the Bruins got nothing going at the plate. Cespedes pitched 4.1 innings in relief, giving up just one run on two hits with seven strikeouts against the potent UCLA offense.

Trailing by five in the top of the ninth, the Terps had one final opportunity to score some runs.

A couple of walks and a groundout moved runners to second and third with two outs, but as Hawton-Henley flew out to right field, Maryland’s hopes of a late-game comeback officially ended.

The loss means the Terps are still on the hunt for their first Big Ten series win of 2026, but the job isn’t finished in Los Angeles yet. Maryland looks to avoid the sweep in the series finale Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. with Daniel Stein on the call for MBN.