The Dirty Terps come into their toughest series of 2026 on a bit of a cold streak.

Maryland came up short in its midweek at Richmond on St. Patrick’s Day after a 1-2 performance in its first Big Ten series against Purdue over the weekend. The lone win of the weekend came in Sunday’s finale against the Boilermakers, where the Terps overcame a 5-0 deficit to escape with a 10-9 win thanks to Ty Kaunas’ eighth inning RBI hit.

Maryland, now down to 11-9 in 2026 and off to a 1-2 start in conference play, travels to Southern California for a three-game set against a Big Ten foe and top team in the nation, UCLA.

#1 UCLA Bruins (18-2, 6-0 Big Ten)

Last Season

The Bruins went 48-18 in their first season in the Big Ten, finishing second in the conference with a mark of 22-8 against Big Ten competition. UCLA went to the Big Ten championship game, but fell short against the cinderella eight seed Nebraska.

The Bruins earned the right to host in both regionals and super regionals for the NCAA tournament. UCLA went 5-0 across those two stages to advance to Omaha for the College World Series. The Bruins defeated Murray State to start out their College World Series run, but dropped back to back matchups against LSU and Arkansas to end their season in the second round.

UCLA faced off against Maryland for the first time as a conference opponent last season. The Terps hosted the Bruins for a weekend series in early March where UCLA won two out of three in College Park. Then-sophomore Phoenix Call hurt Maryland badly that weekend. He had five RBIs over the three games for the Bruins.

This Season

UCLA is firmly at the top of the country to start 2026, relying on a balanced lineup and lights out pitching.

The Bruins’ only two losses are to surprising teams. UCLA lost one of its season opening series games to UC San Diego and dropped a midweek against San Diego State in late-February. Aside from those two SoCal foes, the Bruins have looked nearly unbeatable.

UCLA went to the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series at Globe Life Field to end February. There, the Bruins took down No. 20 Tennessee, No. 23 Texas A&M and No. 4 Mississippi State in three days. UCLA followed that up with back to back Big Ten series sweeps against Ohio State and Michigan, beating the Buckeyes in Columbus and the Wolverines in Los Angeles.

Hitters to Watch

Truly, the answer is everybody.

Every Bruin hitter with at least five games played is hitting, at worst, .216 to start the season. UCLA has nine players who boast an average of .250 or better, headlined by Aidan Espinoza. The redshirt sophomore has an astounding .667 average to start 2026, serving as a bench bat who comes up clutch in pinch hit situations.

The main regular starter to watch out for is outfielder Will Gasparino. The 6-foot-6 junior leads the Big Ten in home runs with 11 and holds a .380 average and 1.441 OPS so far in 2026. He’s started in all 20 of the Bruins’ games this season.

Pitchers to Watch

Logan Reddemann is the typical Friday starter and ace of the UCLA rotation. The junior right-hander is 5-0 with a 2.96 ERA and WHIP under one. He pitched at least five innings in all of his starts in 2026 and hit double-digit strikeouts twice this season, once against TCU and once against Ohio State.

The Bruins’ best bullpen arm is Wylan Moss. The sophomore righty has six relief appearances in 2026, pitching to the tune of a microscopic 0.48 ERA and 0.68 WHIP over 18.2 innings. He has 30 strikeouts, a win and a save this year.

Probable Pitchers

Lance Williams vs. Logan Reddemann

Evan Smith vs. Michael Barnett

Jake Yeager vs. Landon Stump

Other Notable Points

The Terps don’t get to face the number one team very often. The last time Maryland took on the nation’s top squad was the 2023 Winston-Salem regional against Wake Forest, the Terps lost 21-6.

The last time Maryland played the top team during the regular season was all the way back in 2013. No. 1 North Carolina swept the then-ACC Terps in a three-game series in Chapel Hill.

The last time Maryland beat the top ranked team in the country came in 2012. The Terps traveled to Tallahassee to take on then-conference foe Florida State. Maryland lost the first two games to the Seminoles but rallied for an 8-5 win to close out the series. Ironically enough, that 2012 season was the first time the Terps ever played UCLA, with Maryland winning two out of three in a non-conference series in Los Angeles.