Maryland baseball waited until May this year to claim its first series victory, but it came at perhaps the most important time.

A forgettable season for the Terps may still end in a postseason appearance after victories against Penn State in University Park prolonged its chances at a Big Ten tournament spot. The team now stands two games behind Michigan State, the 12th-ranked team in the conference, with six conference games remaining.

“I know we don’t have much time left, but this is a good time to get over the hump and try to see if we can string something together,” coach Matt Swope said after Saturday’s win.

The Terps put together one of their more complete performances of the year in the series opener with ace Kyle McCoy on the mound. Maryland’s bats gave him and the bullpen cushion with an explosive, two-homer first inning — the first of seven runs against the Nittany Lions.

Freshman Logan Hastings entered the game in the seventh with a four-run lead, and quickly seemed like he would rehash Maryland’s late-game struggles.

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Hastings allowed two baserunners before coaxing flyouts to end the frame. He continued to have command issues in the eighth and ninth, walking batters in both, but held on to the Terps’ lead to pick up his second save of the season.

Hastings’ performance bucked the bullpen’s season-long trend of blowing leads.

McCoy pitched six innings with no earned runs against Western Carolina in February before the bullpen imploded in the seventh, surrendering five runs. In March, the lefty exited Maryland’s opener against UCLA with a four-run lead, but the Bruins stormed back to outscore the Terps 11-1 and hand them a 10-inning loss.

Later that month, the bullpen and offense faltered late in the opener against Northwestern, allowing three unanswered runs in the ninth and 10th. Against Indiana in April, it was a blown five-run lead.

“Kyle’s been an ace all year,” Swope said. “I think he’d be in the running for conference pitcher of the year if we could close some of these out.”

In game two against Penn State, Maryland’s offense didn’t have the luxury of a quality start or stability from the bullpen.

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Sophomore Joey McMannis gave up five runs and three walks to only one strikeout in four innings, but Maryland’s bats produced six runs to hold a lead. Relievers Ryan Van Buren and Cristofer Cespedes allowed two runs each to put Maryland at a two-run deficit entering the ninth.

This time, the Terps offense shook off year-long late-game lumps.

After scoring one extra-innings run in three games, Maryland notched three runs in the 10th and 11th frames Saturday. Sophomore Brayden Martin hit a game-winning solo homer — only the third of his career —  in the top of the 11th, a rare clutch swing which helped Maryland overcome pitching struggles.

“[I] kinda just blacked out,” Martin said. “We showed a lot of perseverance in that game.”

The Terps failed to secure the sweep on Sunday, but still claimed the Big Ten series win they desperately needed and avenged last season’s crushing series loss to Penn State.

The Nittany Lions swept Maryland in 2024’s final series and ended the Terps’ postseason chances, including an extra-innings loss where Maryland’s bats fell silent. With the past weekend’s pair of wins, the Terps snapped a 10-series skid and extra-innings losing streak that began and ended against Penn State.

Rather than their postseason chances ending again in a series against Penn State, this year’s meeting brought new hope.