Maryland baseball coach Matt Swope was never interested in talking about his team’s incomprehensible Big Ten series winning streak that spanned nearly three years. In fact, he was adamant about not discussing it.
“I’m not talking about that,” Swope said on March 21. “I will never ever bring up a streak… That’s not even a thing. I don’t even know how many, I don’t care. I’m not gonna answer a question [about that]. It’s not a thing.”
The last time the Terps lost a Big Ten weekend set was April 2021. They accrued 23 straight series wins in conference play. That streak finally came to a close on Sunday when Maryland lost the rubber match to Michigan, 9-4, at Ray Fisher Stadium.
Fielding flubs plagued the Terps (20-8, 3-3 Big Ten) in a two-run second inning for Michigan. Kevin Keister and Sam Hojnar took first baseman Eddie Hacopian off the bag with errant throws, allowing the Wolverines to extend the inning and raise Joey McMannis’ pitch count to 41.
“We kinda let [McMannis] down early in that game a little bit defensively,” Swope said.
[Maryland baseball collapses in early innings, falls to Michigan 12-1]
McMannis’ struggles extended beyond the middle infielders’ blunders, though. The freshman hurler pegged the first batter of the second frame before allowing a hard hit single and double, earning a mound visit from pitching coach Jimmy Jackson.
McMannis struck out AJ Garcia to strand two Wolverines but a pair of runners crossed the plate to give the Terps an early deficit.
Elijah Lambros and Brayden Martin both struck out on three pitches in the third as the Terps went down in order. Michigan tacked onto its lead in the bottom of the inning when Collin Priest drove in an RBI single. Through three innings, McMannis tied his season high in runs and hits allowed with three and five, respectively.
But Maryland’s offense exploded the second time through the order. Three batters homered in the fourth and fifth innings to give the Terps their first lead of the contest.
Hacopian started the action. The first baseman roped a ball over the left field wall to lead off the fourth frame with a solo home run. Then Kevin Keister connected on a fastball over the plate for a two-run homer on the first pitch of his at-bat, evening the score at three.
[Meet Evan Johnson, Maryland baseball’s No. 1 fan]
Outfielder Elijah Lambros put the Terps on top with a solo shot of his own to start the fifth, giving them a one-run advantage. Maryland, which ranks third in the Big Ten in home runs, used the long ball to vault itself back into the game.
Left-hander Omar Melendez relieved McMannis after four innings on the bump. McMannis struggled with his command, but ultimately tossed the ball to the bullpen with a lead.
It didn’t last long though, as Michigan added a run in Melendez’s first inning to tie the score at four.
Michigan two-way player Mitch Voit, who started on the mound and hit second in the lineup, crushed a two-run shot off Melendez in the bottom of the sixth to give the hosts a 6-4 lead. Mack Timbrook added a three-run bomb off Alex Walsh in the seventh to hand Michigan a five-run lead.
The Terps were held without a hit across the final three innings. As the bats vanished, so did the streak that defined the team’s dominance in the Big Ten over the last 1,085 days.
“This is the first time we’ve faced any adversity. We’ve had a winning week every single weekend, we haven’t lost a weekend series, per se,” Swope said. “It’s really about how you respond in these type of moments that matter.”
