In a lost season, playing in an ultimately meaningless game, Eddie Hacopian had one last goal heading into Maryland baseball’s Senior Day: reach double-digit home runs.
He got his wish — launching a 383-foot, three-run shot to right-center in his final game. The seventh inning hit was one of three home runs by Maryland seniors. One frame later, Hacopian provided a go-ahead bases-loaded walk.
In a season full of disappointment, the Terps ended on a high note for the 10 players honored, defeating Rutgers, 13-11, on Saturday.
For Hacopian, a collegiate career at Maryland was never guaranteed. He spent two years at a California junior college before transferring east, following in his father’s footsteps by joining the Terps — and ultimately sharing the field with his younger brother Chris in his final two seasons.
“He’s just selfless,” coach Matt Swope said. “Nobody recruited him out of high school, he bet on himself at a JUCO in California, and earned everything he’s gotten. Those are the stories that make college sports great.”
The Terps’ captain finished his career with 175 starts and 144 RBI — playing in every game over three seasons at first, second, third and left field.
Catcher Alex Calarco and center fielder Elijah Lambros both hit homers in the win as well — two players that transferred to Maryland and became mainstays in the lineup following their arrival.
[Maryland baseball falls to Rutgers, 6-4, slimming its odds of a Big Ten tournament berth]
Seniors Jacob Orr, Andrew Johnson and Ryan Van Buren were also among the group honored — the only players who remain from the 2022 team that hosted the College Park Regional.
“Some of these guys have been here for some of the best seasons in school history,” Swope said Saturday. “Hopefully the adversity that they’ve gone through this year will help them or propel them in a way.”
Another postseason-less ending
While Maryland’s loss on Friday officially ended their postseason hopes, their playoff fate was largely decided before then.
It was the season-long issues that stopped Maryland from attending Omaha for a second straight year — an inconsistent offense, the absence of a reliable closer and starting rotation struggles beyond ace Kyle McCoy.
The Terps’ erratic bats resurfaced in their season-ending losses Thursday and Friday. After averaging eight runs per game during a 6-1 stretch entering the weekend series, they matched their lowest output from that span in two must-win contests.
Their struggles with runners on — a recurring issue — culminated in a 2-for-20 performance with runners in scoring position.
“I know we’ve hit some grand slams, but my goodness, we really struggled to get the big hit this year,” Swope said after Saturday’s 9-4 loss.
In what could be his final outing at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium, McCoy had one of his roughest starts of the year on Friday, allowing six runs across the third and fourth innings.
He still finished the year with a team-best 3.32 ERA.
“I think we’ve let him down plenty this season,” Swope said. “On a lot of those Fridays, the season would have been different if we would have been able to close some of those out.”
After McCoy, Maryland cycled through the rest of its weekend arms across 13 series. The longest stretch in which the Terps used the same three starters came from March 21 to April 6 — a span of just three weekends. It only happened once more, in a two-series stretch in May.
[A Mother’s Day special: Maryland baseball’s seniors reflect on their moms’ impact]
Swope pointed to sophomore left-hander Evan Smith’s season-ending elbow injury as a major blow. Expected to be a key piece of the rotation, Smith pitched only on opening weekend before going down — and Maryland never fully recovered, Swope said. The coach said that nine different players suffered season-ending injuries.
“This is probably one of the most injury ridden clubs I’ve been a part of in my 12 years since I’ve been here,” Swope said.
But the Terps have now missed the Big Ten tournament in both seasons under Swope. While Maryland reached 34 wins last season, it ended this year with a losing record — its first since 2018.
With a new athletic director arriving in July and pressure mounting, Swope took accountability following Rutgers’ win on Saturday. Maryland baseball’s standard is different from when Swope once played in College Park 20 seasons ago – the program was expected to build on two straight Big Ten titles and three straight NCAA Regional appearances to open the decade.
That hasn’t been the case to start his tenure as head coach, a reality he acknowledged.
“I feel like I’ve let people down, and that’s on me,” Swope said after Saturday’s loss. “There isn’t going to be anybody that’s going to be harder on anybody than myself. We just got to be better.”
