With two midweek games remaining in the 2022 season, No. 18 Maryland will square off with a familiar foe in the Georgetown Hoyas Tuesday evening at The “Bob.” It’s the third time the Terps will play the Hoyas this season, having won their two previous meetings in early March, and they’ll be looking to take care of business again for what could be Maryland’s eighth-straight midweek victory.

The Terps enter Tuesday coming off yet another series win in Big Ten play, taking two of three from a middling Northwestern Wildcats squad. Despite the series win, which keeps the Terps undefeated in Big Ten series, Maryland still finds itself in second-place in the conference standings.

With the first-place Rutgers Scarlet Knights looming large this weekend, Tuesday’s date with Georgetown should serve as a tune-up before heading into the arguably the most important series of the season.

Georgetown Hoyas (26-18, 7-8 Big East)

Last Season:

The Hoyas were the gutter of the Big East last season, going 6-19 in the conference. Many of the heavy-hitters on today’s squad hadn’t reached that level in 2021, and the Georgetown pitching weighed the team down with a collective 5.83 ERA.

This Season:

The Hoyas at this point have gone eight games over .500 overall, but are struggling to stay above that mark when it comes to their 7-8 conference record. There are really just two main contenders in the Big East this season (Connecticut, Creighton), which has left the Hoyas in the middle of the pack. Their hitting is what has separated them from the bottom-tier Big East teams, but the pitching — especially the starting pitching — has kept them from making a serious push at the top-tier teams.

Hitters to Watch:

Jake Hyde has stood out the most for the Hoyas lineup this season, and he’ll certainly be the top priority for Maryland’s scouting after his three-hit performance in an earlier matchup this season. One of those hits was a home run against midweek starter Logan Ott, and Hyde leads his team with 17 of those. Right behind him in long balls is Ubaldo Lopez with 16. Together, Hyde’s 1.157 OPS and Lopez’s 1.062 OPS continue to pose a threat to Maryland pitching.

Pitchers to Watch:

Georgetown’s pitching strength comes directly out of the bullpen as four Hoyas relievers have posted ERA’s below 3.50. With probable starter Andrew Williams tending to go just an inning deep like he has in recent starts, it may be a relay race to the finish out of Georgetown’s bullpen. Most notably, Anthony Redferd owns a 2.50 ERA in 15 appearances and has notched two saves.

Probable Pitching Matchup

The Terps have won six-straight Logan Ott starts, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason for them to divert from him as the midweek guy to round out the season. Although his last start against the Hoyas wasn’t very strong (5 ER, 2 IP), the Terps offense rallied to claim a 10-9 victory.

Judging by that last Ott matchup against Georgetown, the Hoyas are likely to send freshman Andrew Williams to the mound again. Most of Williams’ last several starts haven’t gone beyond an inning, and his season ERA sits at 5.54. The freshman is capable of a quality outing, having pitched eight strikeouts in five innings against UMass (March 4) and seven strikeouts in seven innings against Mount St. Mary’s (March 18).