A tough stretch of opponents has spelled frustration for the Dirty Terps. 

Maryland traveled south on I-95 for Tuesday night’s matchup against No. 23 Virginia at Fredericksburg’s Virginia Credit Union Stadium — home of the Washington Nationals’ Single-A affiliate.

The Terps led 3-1 after five and a half innings, but that abruptly changed when the Cavaliers scored three runs to take the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Virginia added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to extend that lead to 6-3. 

But Maryland, once again, displayed tremendous fight in the ninth. The Terps scored three runs to tie the game. Chris Hacopian started the scoring with an RBI double before Alex Calarco kept the Terps afloat with an RBI groundout. With two outs, a passed ball allowed Chris Hacopian to cross home plate and tie the game.

But, unfortunately for Maryland, a wild pitch with a runner on third gave Virginia the walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth.

Tuesday’s midweek loss against the Cavaliers piled on to some of the struggles Maryland faced in its two losses to UCLA this past weekend. Maryland suffered an equally brutal result in its extra-innings loss to UCLA this past Friday. 

Chris Hacopian tied that game at six apiece with a ninth-inning home run. But Maryland’s pitching struggles appeared once more.  The Terps surrendered six runs in the tenth inning, ultimately losing 12-6.

With those losses behind them, the Dirty Terps will aim to keep their bats hot and get back above .500 against a mid-major opponent in Mount St. Mary’s. Wednesday’s first pitch from “The Bob” is set for 4 p.m.

Maryland has won its last five matchups against the Mountaineers while leading the all-time series 14-3.

Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers (7-7)

Last Season 

The Mountaineers finished last season with a 22-34-1 record overall, and a 13-11 record in conference play — good enough for a fourth-place finish in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

The Mountaineers defeated Canisius 4-3 in the first round of the MAAC tournament which was their first postseason victory in 16 years. The win would mark the first time ever that they advanced in the MAAC tournament. 

Mount St. Mary’s grabbed even more attention in the following round, by defeating top-seeded Fairfield, 12-10. That win sent the Mountaineers to the semi-finals, but their run ended there. The Mountaineers dropped back-to-back games — losing 8-6 to Niagara and then 7-6 to Fairfield — bowing out of the double-elimination tournament. 

This Season

The Mountaineers enter Wednesday’s matchup with a 7-7 record so far this season. They’re also 5-2 on the road.

Mount St. Mary’s opened its weekend series against Sacred Heart with a 21-5 win. However, the final two games of the series didn’t go its way. The Mountaineers lost 14-6 on Saturday and 7-6 on Sunday.

The series finale against Sacred Heart was a tough one for the Mountaineers. They surrendered their ninth-inning lead after giving up an RBI double and a two-run home run. 

Hitters to Watch

The Mountaineers’ top hitter is sophomore Ty Fredo, who leads the team with an impressive .407 batting average while starting all 14 games so far this season. Fredo also leads the team in hits and runs, with 22 and 18 respectively.

Another contact threat for Mount St. Mary’s is sophomore Evan Meier who carries a .362 batting average through his 14 starts. Meier has 17 hits on the season which includes a team-leading six doubles.

Mount St. Mary’s has a respectable team batting average of 0.282 so far this season. Fredo and Meier are two of five Mountaineers hitters batting over .300 so far this season.

Pitchers to Watch

Mountaineers pitching has struggled through the team’s first 14 games. They’re currently posting a team ERA of 7.09.

The MAAC outfit has rolled out six different starters so far this year, with their best being freshman Serigne Sarre. Through four starts, Sarre has a 3.26 ERA over 19.1 innings pitched. He has also racked up a total of 26 strikeouts while walking nine.

Junior Maximus McCrary has also been one of their better bullpen arms. In his four appearances, McCrary has a 3.37 ERA through 10.2 innings pitched. But he’s also given up a total of four earned runs over his two most recent appearances.

Probable Starters

TBD vs.TBD