After quite literally walking to victory over Georgetown on Tuesday afternoon, the Maryland Terrapins (6-2) take the field again on Wednesday as they head down I-95 to square off with the Virginia Commonwealth Rams at 1:00 p.m. ET at The Diamond in Richmond. 

The history of this matchup isn’t favorable for Maryland, which has a 25-28 all-time record against VCU. The past decade and a half, however, has been a much different story. Since 2010, the Terps and Rams have met 16 times, and in those matchups, Maryland is 12-4. The Terps have also won eight of the last nine contests. 

Wednesday will be Maryland’s first trip to The Diamond since the 2019 season, a year in which the Terps played – and defeated – the Rams on three separate occasions. The most recent meeting between the two came at “The Bob” during the 2022 season when the Terps slugged four home runs en route to an 8-6 victory. The Rams hit two homers of their own during that matchup as well. It’s unlikely that Wednesday’s showdown will feature the same barrage of long balls though, as The Diamond is deeper than “The Bob” to all fields. 

Maryland is entering Wednesday afternoon’s matchup having played four games in the past five days. Before Tuesday afternoon’s blowout win against Georgetown, the Terps were in Corpus Christi, Texas for the Kleberg Bank College Classic, where they put together a solid showing all around to win two of three.

With all of that in mind, here’s what the Terps can expect as they get set to face VCU on Wednesday.

Virginia Commonwealth Rams (4-4)

Last Season

After posting a 42-20 record, winning the A10 tournament, and making an NCAA regional appearance in 2022, VCU’s 2023 campaign was quite underwhelming. The Rams fell just below the .500 mark both overall (25-30) and in conference play (11-13), which landed them at ninth in the A10, a conference in which only the top seven teams make the end-of-season tournament.

The Rams did have the chance to punch a ticket to the A10 Tournament at the end of the 2023 regular season, but ultimately missed out after being swept by Rhode Island (the eventual No. 7 seed who finished with a 13-11 conference record) in a three-game set to close out the year. 

VCU’s 2023 struggles could largely be linked to its abysmal 6-17 record on the road. Conversely, the Rams were significantly better at home, going 18-12 at The Diamond to make their overall record much more respectable.

This Season

As their 4-4 record would indicate, the Rams have had some ups and downs throughout this young season. With that being said though, VCU has already played two very tough opponents, as they opened the season with a weekend series loss at No. 14 N.C. State, and are coming off of an 8-2 defeat at the hands of No. 17 North Carolina on Tuesday night.  

The Rams’ .500 record also fails to show their offensive fire-power, which has been on heavy display of late. In their four games prior to Tuesday, the Rams were averaging nearly 12 runs per game. VCU’s bats ultimately cooled off against the Tar Heels, but nevertheless, the Terps pitching staff may have their hands full with a Rams offense that has shown the capability to score in bunches.   

Hitters to Watch

From an offensive standpoint, infielders Casey Kleinman and Brandon Eike have formed a dangerous one-two punch at the top of the VCU lineup. Through eight games this season, Kleinman has more runs scored (10) than he has hits (9). Eike on the other hand has been a run-producing machine with his team leading four HRs, 12 RBIs, and .857 SLG%. 

In addition to Eike and Kleinman, the Rams also do an impressive job of turning their lineup over, which can be credited to the production they’ve gotten from center fielder Cooper Benzin and catcher Nic Ericsson, who usually bat eighth and ninth respectively. Benzin is currently slashing (.360/.543/.480) while Ericsson isn’t far behind at (.273/.484/.409).

Pitchers to Watch

So far the Rams pitching staff has been shaky, posting a 5.29 team ERA to go along with their .304 opponent batting average. Additionally, most of their innings have come from the bullpen, as they are yet to have a starter go more than three innings in a game, however, that mostly seems to be by design. 

VCU has also gotten good innings from multiple relievers, but the two biggest standouts have been Maison Martinez and Jack Hoeymans. Martinez is yet to allow a run in his team-leading 7.2 IP, while Hoeymans has thrown 6.2 innings over three appearances and allowed just one earned run.

Probable Starting Pitchers

Omar Melendez vs. TBD

After transferring from Alabama State this past offseason, Melendez is expected to make his first start for the Terps on Wednesday. The junior left-hander made his Maryland debut during the Terps’ blowout victory over Mount St. Mary’s last Tuesday. Melendez came on in relief to start the seventh inning of that game and surrendered three hits and one earned run, but also struck out five, in his three innings of work. 

During his two seasons at Alabama State, Melendez made 15 starts, all of which came last season. As Alabama State’s Friday night starter, Melendez led the Hornets in ERA (2.52), wins (12), CG’s (4), IP’s (93), and strikeouts (96).

*First pitch was originally scheduled for 3 p.m. but has been moved up to 1 p.m. in anticipation of inclement weather.