After taking two of three against Penn State over the weekend, Maryland heads back up to Pennsylvania for a midweek matchup with the Villanova Wildcats on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. The matchup marks the first time the teams have met in over 20 years, as the Terps and Wildcats enter with a split series history, each team with two wins.

Maryland, hovering around the .500 mark for the past few weeks, will look for the midweek victory to provide added momentum heading into a tough series against Michigan starting Friday. For the Wildcats, who haven’t finished the regular season with a winning record since 2012, the Wednesday meeting marks a much-needed non-conference win.

The Terps’ offense, which fell quiet toward the start of conference play, has rebounded of late. With seniors A.J. Lee (.313) and Taylor Wright (.303) leading the team in batting average, Maryland poses an offensive threat to Villanova.

Lee enters the matchup riding a 10-game hitting streak and a 19-game on-base streak, while Wright and sophomore Randy Bednar (.286) are tied for the most doubles in the Big Ten, with 18 apiece.

Bednar also leads the Terps in RBIs (42), the second-most in the Big Ten, just behind Indiana’s Matt Lloyd (45).

A handful of Maryland pitchers could take the mound for the midweek start, including left-handers Drew Wilden (8.74 ERA) and Tuck Tucker (6.14 ERA), and righty Mark DiLuia (5.65 ERA). Wilden and Tucker started most of the Terps’ midweeks so far this season, with combined seven starts. Junior right-hander Tyler Blohm (4.15 ERA in 4.2 innings pitched) may also get the call to the mound, after a solid two-inning start last week against VCU.

From the bullpen, southpaws Sean Fisher (4.44 ERA) and Andrew Vail (2.03 ERA) and right-hander Sean Heine (9.45 ERA) are likely to make relief appearances, as is closer John Murphy (3.97), if the righty gets a save opportunity.

Villanova Wildcats (11-29, 3-6 Big East)

Last Season

The Wildcats struggled last year, finishing with a 9-38 record, including going 1-17 in the Big East.

This Season

Villanova’s struggles are far from over, however it has proved its 2019 campaign to be better than that of 2018. With a 11-29 record, the Wildcats enter the midweek on a one-game winning streak, after splitting a two-game series with Delaware last weekend.

Hitters to Watch

Freshman two-way players Nick Lorusso (.310) and senior catcher Doug deMarrais (.302) lead the Wildcats in batting average, the only players hitting above .300. The pair is also in a three-way tie for the second-most home runs (3), and Lorusso leads Villanova in hits (45).

Pitchers to Watch

The Wildcats appear to be in a similar pitching situation to the Terps; in a pair of midweeks last week, Villanova used a total of 10 different pitchers, four of which made appearances in both games. None of the Wildcats’ pitchers hold sub-3.00 ERAs. Most likely to make mound appearances for Villanova are right-handers Cameron Mathes (5.97 ERA) and Jason Applegate (7.84 ERA).