Tied in the top of the sixth, Brayden Martin stepped into the box with runners on the corners.

He seemed to hit into a routine ground ball double play, but likely 2026 first round pick Eric Becker fumbled with the ball and let former Virginia Cavalier Jackson Sirois score from third to give the Terps a lead against his former squad.

But Maryland (11-13) couldn’t hold onto that lead, losing 16-6 to No. 9 Virginia (21-5) on Tuesday at Virginia Credit Union Stadium in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The Cavaliers broke the ice in Fredericksburg.

Virginia’s stolen base leader Harrison Didawick did his job on the basepath, reaching first on a single and swiping second base for his eighth stolen bag of the season. Two batters later, Kyle Johnson drove him in with a single.

Maryland responded immediately in the top of the third.

Sirois stepped into the batter’s box to face his former squad for the first time. He singled to shallow center, then advanced to third on a single from Martin. Finally, Sirois scored the Terps’ first run of the day off a single from Ty Kaunas, scorning his ex-teammates.

The offense continued to hum for the Terps. Right after Maryland’s first run crossed the plate, Ryan Costello smacked a double off the bottom of the left field wall to bring Martin home and give the Terps their first lead of the game.

That double was enough to spook the Cavaliers’ coaching staff. Virginia pulled starting pitcher Jayden Stroman after just 2.1 innings. The Cavaliers turned to Kevin Jaxel out of the bullpen, but up against David Mendez at the plate, Jaxel threw a low pitch that turned into a passed ball, scoring Kaunas from third to give Maryland a 3-1 lead.

The lead didn’t last long.

Virginia used small ball to frustrate the Terps in the bottom half of the third. The Cavaliers scored three runs on five singles against Maryland pitching, split between starter Nic Morlang and first relief arm Brayden Ryan in the inning. Ryan stranded the final two baserunners, but Virginia took a 4-3 lead into the top of the fourth.

Maryland kept the offense moving in the fourth, tying the game with its own small ball. Jordan Crosland led off with a single, then Paul Jones II’s double put two runners in scoring position for Sirois. He made his former school pay again, hitting a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

Yet again, the Cavaliers responded with small ball. Ryan picked up two quick outs on the mound, but three straight two-out singles from Virginia gave the Cavaliers a 5-4 lead after four.

Both teams finally took an offensive break in the fifth, but the Terps rallied for runs again in the top of the sixth.

Jones II hit a one-out single and bolted to second base on a wild pitch. Sirois then reached on an infield single and Aden Hill tied the game with an RBI double down the left field line, moving Sirois to third in the process. He ultimately scored to give Maryland a 6-5 lead.

But the Cavaliers, feisty as ever, came back again in the bottom of the seventh.

With AJ Gracia standing on second, Didawick hit Virginia’s first extra base hit of the game to bring him home and tie the score. Right after that, Noah Murray poked a single for the Cavaliers to give his team a 7-6 lead.

Virginia put away Maryland with nine runs in the bottom of the eighth. Both teams agreed to forgo the ninth after the Cavaliers’ offensive explosion.

Maryland returns to College Park to face its other Southern California, Big Ten rival in No. 12 USC. The Terps, down to 1-5 in conference play after last weekend’s sweep at No. 1 UCLA, need some Big Ten wins badly against the Trojans. First pitch in Game 1 is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. with Ryan Martin and Dash Tischler on the call for MBN.