An Aden Hill RBI groundout in the eighth inning moved Alex Calarco to second base, representing the tying run with one out in a game Maryland baseball never led to that point.

But the Terps, who struggled to capitalize in key moments throughout Saturday, did so in one of their final opportunities to punch through.

Jacob Orr grounded a ball between second and third in the next at bat. Calarco took off looking to advance 90 feet but was tagged out — a costly baserunning mistake that erased a runner in scoring position. Hollis Porter ended the inning with a flyout right after to keep coach Matt Swope’s team trailing.

A Brayden Martin single was Maryland’s lone baserunner in the ninth. It fell to South Florida on the road, 4-3. The Terps (10-9) were 0-8 with runners in scoring position and batted only 3-15 with runners on as the offensive output reflected a slowed offensive performance recently.

Juniors Ryan Pruitt and Matt Rose each clubbed solo home runs to get the Bulls (8-8) off to an early 2-0 lead. The hits were the lone freshman Logan Hastings surrendered in the first four innings.

[Maryland baseball’s freshmen arms provide hope amid a poor overall pitching performance]

The Terps evened the score in the top of the fourth with an RBI double by Porter and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Parker Corbin. The tie only lasted briefly.

Hastings loaded the bases in the fifth inning with the first three batters that he saw, and Pruitt capitalized with a deep two-RBI single. The right-hander was pulled after seeing one more batter for fellow freshman Cristofer Cespedes — who tossed 3 ⅔ scoreless innings of relief, his longest outing this season.

But Maryland’s offense couldn’t take advantage of Cespedes’ excellence. The Terps have averaged only 5.6 runs per game over their last five outings, a dip from the double-digit figures they had over the first 13 games of the season. Maryland hasn’t hit a home run in the span.

The Bulls’ win forced a Sunday rubber match. The Terps still have the opportunity to claim a weekend series victory for the first time this season.

Maryland lost both rubber matches it’s played this season — a 11-9 loss in extra innings to Western Carolina off a three-run walk-off homer and a 11-5 loss to UCLA last weekend where the Bruins scored all their runs in the second inning.

Hastings hurls on Saturdays

[Maryland baseball loses to No. 23 Virginia on walk-off wild pitch, 7-6]

Saturday marked the third straight weekend that Hastings has started, and the second time he’s taken the mound on the second game of the weekend.

He finished the game with four earned runs, four hits and three walks allowed in 4 ½ innings. His ERA rests at 5.40 following the start.

Hastings moved into the starting rotation against Wake Forest on March 3 amid injuries across the pitching staff during a four-game slate in Winston-Salem. Swope alerted the freshman ahead of the weekend to be prepared to throw in any role after pitching three outings out the bullpen.

“Biggest thing was just be ready to throw, be ready to help us win,” Hastings said on March 6. “That’s my favorite role, just being able to come in and do what they need me to do.”

Hastings has worked on adding a slider and sinker with pitching coach Jimmy Jackson since joining the Terps this season. The freshman analyzes his TrackMan numbers with Jackson, focusing on his spin axis, induced vertical break and horizontal break.

“I think I maybe get a little too much into it. That’s also one thing that coach [Jackson] has been working on with me,” Hastings said on March 6. “With all the technology that we have in the new indoor [facility], it’s kind of hard to stay away from it, but I’m doing better at learning with it.”

Hastings couldn’t provide length like redshirt junior Kyle McCoy on Friday, who threw a career-high 106 pitches in an eight-inning, one-run start. Maryland has yet to announce Sunday’s starter — it has recently experimented with previous weekend starter Joey McMannis in a closer role.