Terps drop Game 2 against Spartans

Posted on March 24, 2024 by Ben Belford-Peltzman

The Terps struggled early and couldn’t retake the lead as they dropped game two to the Spartans, 5-2, on Saturday afternoon.

Logan Koester earned the start for the Terps and threw a career-high 115 pitches across 7.1 innings. It marked his third start of the season. He lasted more than seven innings. Koester recorded four strikeouts while only allowing six hits and two earned runs.

“He’s been consistent all year,” head coach Matt Swope said of Koester and his long outing on the mound. “I think we let him down, wasn’t really indicative of his start, which is kind of frustrating. But again, it’s huge because now we can bring everybody back in the bullpen tomorrow and get our main guys going and hopefully it’s in a situation to win.”

Michigan State got the scoring started in the second when the Terps allowed two runs to score via an RBi single and a throwing error. Then, in the third, the Spartans added two more runs because of more unsteady defense from the Terps. 

Maryland finally got the bats moving in the bottom of the third and loaded the bases with consecutive base hits from Chris and Eddie Hacopian. However, the Terps could only push acess one run. The Terps cut the deficit to two in the bottom of the sixth with Sam Hojnar hitting a solo shot to center field. 

That would be all for the Terps, though, because the Spartans extended their lead in the eighth, and the Terps couldn’t plate another run, leading to a 5-2 Michigan State victory.

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Terps walk it off against Spartans; seals come-back win

Posted on March 23, 2024 by Ben Belford-Peltzman

Freshman Brayden Martin walked to the plate with two runners on and one out, and he delivered.

“[I] was never in doubt,” Martin said. “Your guys believe in you, and you feel like you can do anything.”

Once down three runs, the Teprs clawed their way back from an early deficit to defeat the Michigan Spartans 7-6 and earn their first Big Ten matchup. After a rough stretch, the Terps have only lost one of their last eight games and haven’t lost at home this season.

Maryland ace Kenny Lippman got the ball to start the game but had a bumpy start for the second straight game. He quickly gave up two consecutive doubles and allowed three runs to score in the first inning. However, after the first, he threw five scoreless innings, giving the offense a chance to catch the lead.

“We kind of let [Lippman] down a little bit at first, but I appreciate the way he battled,” head coach Matt Swope said

Jordan Crosland started the scoring for Maryland, launching a homer over the left-center field to lower the deficit to two runs. Then, in the fourth inning, Chris Hacopian plated Devin Russell via a double. Power hitter Jacob Orr continued the big offensive inning, hitting a massive two-run homer, which allowed the Terps to take the lead.

The Spartans didn’t back down and tied the game via a homer in the seventh. Trystan Sarcone, who relieved Lippman, allowed the homer but bounced back in the eighth. The Spartans scored another run in the tenth on a wild pitch to take a 6-5 lead.

Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 4 pm. Maryland hasn’t lost a Big Ten series since 2021 and can continue that streak with a win on Saturday afternoon.

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Terps baseball falls to Portland 5-3

Posted on March 16, 2024 by Ben Belford-Peltzman

The Maryland baseball team (13-5) fell to the Portland Pilots (10-5) in their series opener.

The Pilots got on the board first after Jake Holfcroft knocked an infield single and was quickly plated with Christian Cooney’s RBI. Soon after, Zach Togilia hammered a double to left field, bringing in two more runs. The Terps found themselves in a 3-0 hole to start.

Maryland starter Kenny Lippman has been productive thus far this season but was getting hit around by the Portland offense this evening. Eventually, with a few more base hits and walks, the Pilots led 5-0 after three innings.

Lippman pitched five innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits and three strikeouts. After a rough start, Maryland’s ace put together a satisfactory performance.

Andrew Johnson relived Lippman and was lights out for the Terps. He didn’t allow a hit and recorded two strikeouts in his bullpen appearance.

“Can’t say enough about AJ (Andrew Johnson),” “His last two outings have been lights out and like I said, I told these guys there are going to be a lot of different lineups, a lot of different guys out on the mound, so whoever seizes our opportunity, you just got to take advantage of it and that’s what Andrew is doing right now. He definitely kept us in the game.”

Head coach Matt Swope 

The Terps finally got their first baserunner of the night when Chris Hacopian singled up the middle. Maryland’s offense continued to string together some opportunities in the top of the seventh with hits from Sam Hojnar and Chris Hacopian. Kevin Kister hit a second fly, scoring Hojnar, and Hacopian ran home on a wild pitch, trimming their deficit to three runs.

In the following inning, the Terps kept their comeback hopes alive. Eddie Hacopian hit a soaring fly ball that turned into a double and allowed Brayden Martin to score from first.

After two solid offensive innings, Maryland’s luck ended when Portland called on Tanner Douglas for the save opportunity. He struck out all three batters he faced, securing the Pilots victory.

Maryland baseball plays their second game of the series at 6 pm ET on Saturday night.

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Terps basketball guard Noah Batchelor will enter tranfer portal

Posted on March 16, 2024 by Ben Belford-Peltzman

Maryland Terps basketball guard Noah Batchelor announced on X that he will enter the transfer portal. Batchelor is the first player to announce his decision to part ways with the basketball program.

Batchelor, 20, was the first player signed by head coach Kevin Williard. Before Maryland, he was ranked the 22nd small forward in 2021 and played at IMG Academy during the 2021 season.

As a freshman at Maryland, he played in 22 games, averaging 1.6 points and 1.2 rebounds, totaling six assists and two steals.

The 6-foot-6 guard struggled behind the arc, only recording 20-of-68 three-point attempts (29.4%). He didn’t play much, only averaging 7.3 minutes through 49 appearances at Maryland. In addition, he only made two starts.

After Maryland’s loss to Penn State, Willard explained his thoughts on Batchelor and his inconsistency
.

“I think for Noah. Eventually, the light will go off,” Willard told the media after Batchelor scored a career-high nine points.

Batchelor is the first Maryland player to depart after a tough 2023 Terps’ season. The move means Maryland has a scholarship spot open as Willard looks to acquire new talent. The Terps have a lot of work on their hands this off-season, as two of their top three scorers will no longer be with the team.

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Round II of the Big Ten Tournament has #12 Maryland against #5 Wisconsin

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Andrew Lang
Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkTerrapins

The Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball team cruised to victory last night in the first round of the Big-Ten Tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With less than 20 hours to rest, the Terps are back at it this afternoon as they face the #5 seed Wisconsin Badgers. Ther Terps are looking to be the upset darling in this tournament and disrupt the brackets before the NCAA Tournament begins next week.

This season the Terps went up against Wisconsin in Madison and were three shots from victory as they dropped that one by a final score of 74-70. For five of the six teams on Maryland’s side of the bracket, the Terps lost by an average of four points to each with the exception of a 14-point loss to then No. 1 ranked Purdue in the only meeting of the season between the two teams. Again, Maryland has to look at last night at what they can be before they brought in the bench to finish that game as the Terps were up by over 20-points over Rutgers and won by 14-points.

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Senior Day for Terps Men’s Basketball ends in a meltdown

Posted on March 3, 2024 by Ben Belford-Peltzman

The Maryland Terrapins at home at the Xfinity Center celebrated Senior Day in a pre-game presentation of framed jerseys to Jahmir Young, Donta Scott, Jahari Long, and Jordan Geronimo. Head coach Kevin Willard had them all in the starting-5 along with Julian Reese, and the Terps responded with a halftime lead of 43-33 over Indiana. Maryland then took their biggest lead of the game at 51-35 on Young’s 3-point play early in the second half. That 16-point lead disappeared mid-way into the second half, and the Terps ended up with a 83-78 loss to fall into the bottom tier in the Big-Ten.

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Terps baseball completes the sweep, defeats Bulldogs 11-7

Posted on March 3, 2024 by Ben Belford-Peltzman
Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkTerrapins

The Maryland Terps (9-3) completed the series sweep against the Bryant Bulldogs by defeating them 7-4 on Sunday afternoon. Head coach Matt Swope earned his first sweep as a head coach.

Freshman Joey McMannis took the mound for the Terps. He went 2 1/3 innings, allowing three hits, three earned runs, and recording four walks against two strikeouts. Meanwhile, Tyler Horvat earned the start for the Bulldogs, working four innings and registering five strikeouts while giving up three earned runs.

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Terps baseball wins first of three-game series; 8-3 defeats Bryant

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Ben Belford-Peltzman
Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkTerrapins

The Maryland Terps won the first of a three-game series, defeating Braynt 8-3 on Friday night.

Kenny Lippman took the mound for the Terps, recording his first home start of the season. He gave up one earned run in six innings of work, striking out nine batters and giving up three hits while walking three batters.

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Terps Baseball Suffers Blow-Out Loss to VCU, Falls 15-7

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Ben Belford-Peltzman
Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkNats

The Maryland Terps (6-3) were in full control until the bottom of the seventh inning, where they faced a total collapse. VCU recorded 11 runs in the frame, with head coach Matt Swope making two pitching changes in the inning.

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Maryland Terps with another loss at home

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Andrew Lang
Photo by Sol Tucker for TalkTerrapins

Maryland got their second half surge but it was too little and too late. They fell to Northwestern by a final score of 68-61. This was a low scoring affair as the combined scoring with 15:40 remaining in the game was at 66 points. Both Maryland and Northwestern looked lost at times with few answers to score. In the first half, Maryland was 1-13 in 3-point shots, and that shot came from the freshman DeShawn Harris-Smith. The Terps finished at 2-22 with the other 3-pointer in the second half by Jahmir Young. Northwestern racked up the team fouls to put Maryland up at the line with nearly 10-minutes remaining in the game, but Maryland still couldn’t take advantage.

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