Maryland baseball travels to Iowa City this weekend to begin Big Ten play against the #25 Iowa Hawkeyes. The Terps (15-9) enter conference play hot, having won 11 of their last 13 games.

Maryland is coming off a 10-7 victory over Georgetown on Tuesday. After a back-and-forth affair through the first four innings, Nick Lorusso’s three-run homer in the fifth was the difference, giving the Terps a lead they would not relinquish. 

Last weekend, the Terps took two out of three games from UCF in Orlando. It was a huge series win to give them momentum heading into a tough task on the road to kick off conference play.

Here’s what to watch for against the Hawkeyes.

Iowa Hawkeyes (19-4)

Last Season

Iowa finished the 2022 season with a 36-19 overall record and a 17-7 conference record. That mark was good enough for a third place finish in the Big Ten, only behind Maryland and Rutgers.

The Hawkeyes fell to Michigan in the semifinal of the Big Ten tournament. The Terps were not on their schedule in 2022, so this weekend’s meeting will be the first between the two teams since 2021.

This Season

Iowa (19-4) stormed out of the gates this season, winning 10 of their first 11 games, including a win over #1 LSU. It was enough to get them a spot in the D1 Baseball Top 25 before dropping two out of three on the road to #22 Texas Tech.

They responded to their lone series loss of the season by winning their next eight and sneaking back into the rankings at #25. That winning streak was snapped on Tuesday, however; the Hawkeyes fell to Illinois State by a final of 5-3. 

Iowa holds a perfect 9-0 record at home, a mark that Maryland will look to change this weekend. After hosting the Terps, the Hawkeyes will hit the road to take on Bradley next Wednesday before heading to Bloomington to battle Indiana.

Hitters to Watch

The Hawkeyes’ lineup is headlined by sophomore two-way star Keaton Anthony, who took home Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-Big Ten honors last season. Anthony is batting .329 with five home runs and a 1.074 OPS. He leads the team in total bases with 51 on the season.

Graduate utility player Brennen Dorighi paces the Hawkeyes with a .369 batting average and a .481 on-base percentage. A transfer from Wofford, Dorighi was a First Team All-SoCon selection last season and has continued his stellar play with his new team this year.

Junior outfielder Kyle Huckstorf is tied with Anthony for first on the team with five homers, along with a .364 batting average and a team-leading 1.094 OPS. Huckstorf was a Big Ten All-Tournament First Team selection last season, and even took home Collegiate National Player of the Week Honors on May 24 of last year.

Utility player Sam Petersen is enjoying a breakout season in his sophomore year in Iowa City. In  his first season as a full-time starter, Petersen is slashing .343/.467/.614. 

Pitchers to Watch

Iowa has a stellar pitching staff that currently holds the lowest ERA of any Big Ten team. They’re led by their ace, sophomore right-hander Brody Brecht. After earning All-Big Ten Freshman team honors as a reliever last year, Brecht has made the transition to the rotation this season and has excelled in that role. The right-hander holds a 2.20 ERA and has racked up 46 strikeouts in 28.2 innings while holding opponents to a .146 batting average. Formerly a two-sport athlete, Brecht gave up football ahead of this baseball season, as he is expected to hear his name called early in the 2024 MLB Draft.

The top arm out of a strong Iowa bullpen is Luke Llewellyn. The junior right-hander has appeared in nine games, more than any other Hawkeye, and has posted a 2.25 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 12 innings of work. Opponents are batting just .146 off Llewellyn.

Six different pitchers have started on the mound for the Hawkeyes this season, but junior Ty Langenberg seems to be their go-to second starter behind Brecht. The right-hander has pitched in seven games, five of them starts, and holds a 4.39 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 26.2 innings. 

Projected Starting Pitchers

Friday, March 31st: Jason Savacool and Brody Brecht

Saturday, April 1st: Nick Dean and TBD

Sunday, April 2nd: Kyle McCoy and TBD

Winners of eight of their last nine games, Maryland baseball looks to stay hot like the weather in Orlando this weekend when they head south to take on a strong UCF squad.

The Terps are coming off a midweek win over nearby George Washington in College Park on Tuesday. Back-to-back homers from Matt Woods and Kevin Keister capped a late inning rally to secure a 9-6 victory.

After a slow start to the season that dropped them out of the D1Baseball Top 25 rankings, Maryland has righted the ship over the last two weeks, taking advantage of a softer schedule than they played early in the season.

A good showing in sunny Florida this weekend would be a huge boost for the Terps ahead of their Big Ten opener at Iowa next weekend.

Here is what to watch for against the Knights.

UCF Knights (15-6)

Last Season:

UCF finished the 2022 season with a 35-23 overall record and a 14-10 conference record, good enough for second place in the American Athletic Conference behind East Carolina, who ran away with the conference title and advanced to the super regionals. The Knights fell to Houston in the AAC tournament semifinals.

Four Knights earned All-AAC honors last season, and two of them returned this year: pitcher Ben Vespi, and catcher/designated hitter Andrew Sundean.

This Season:

UCF has been impressive in 2023 thus far, boasting a 15-6 record, which includes a 5-0 record against ACC teams with series sweeps over Clemson and Florida State. The Knights also swept Siena in their season opener, and Dartmouth last weekend. They return home coming off a loss at North Florida on Tuesday. 

After hosting the Terps, UCF will visit Florida Atlantic next Tuesday before beginning conference play at home against South Florida, who Maryland took two of three games from to open the season.

Hitters to Watch:

UCF is tied for 7th across all of Division I with 45 home runs, and they’re led by senior catcher Ben McCabe. 

McCabe has been the Knights’ best hitter, putting up video game numbers through 21 games. He holds a .449 batting average with 10 home runs and a ridiculous .910 slugging percentage.

Sophomore catcher/designated hitter Andrew Sundean, who earned Second Team All-AAC honors last season, has picked up right where he left off. Sundean leads the team with a .455 batting average and a .523 on-base percentage. He is third on the team in hits despite only playing in 14 of 21 games so far.

Two other hitters to watch are freshman infielder Drew Faurot and senior infielder Tom Josten, who both boast an OPS north of 1.000 and have hit six and eight home runs, respectively.

Pitchers to Watch:

Senior Ruddy Gomez and sophomore Dom Stagliano have provided the Knights with a reliable 1-2 punch this season. Gomez has struck out 35 with a 3.07 ERA in 29.2 innings pitched, and Stagliano has a 3.95 ERA in 27.1 innings.

Kyle Kramer has been UCF’s best arm out of the bullpen. The senior right-hander has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 20 to 3 and has held opponents to a .178 batting average to the tune of a 2.70 ERA in 13.1 innings of work.

Projected Starting Pitchers:

Friday, March 24th: Jason Savacool and Ruddy Gomez

Saturday, March 25th: Nick Dean and Dom Stagliano

Sunday, March 26th: Kyle McCoy and Jacob Marlowe

No Spring Break for the Dirty Terps.

Maryland is back at the Bob for its fourth game in five days. The squad took care of business this past weekend, taking their series against Albany, 2-1. On Tuesday, they’ll welcome local opponent George Washington to campus. Maryland holds the all-time record against the Colonials, 48-29-4, but this will be the first time the two programs have faced off since 2016. 

The focus for the Terps coming into Tuesday’s game will be finding a balance between a potent offensive attack and a talented but inconsistent defense. In the Albany series, occasionally one was playing well at the expense of the other. In game one, we saw what that balance looked like, as the Terps’ offense exploded for 18 runs, with only three runs given up, all in the ninth inning. However, in game two, both offense and defense struggled in a 6-3 loss. In the finale, the offense struggled on a bitter day while the pitching and defense stifled the Great Danes in a 4-0 victory.

The Terps will hope to find that balance in Tuesday’s match. They currently sit at 11-8, sixth in the Big Ten. They’ll be looking to get as high as possible with conference play starting in just 10 days.

Here’s what you need to know about the visiting Colonials.

George Washington Colonials (5-16)

Last Season

George Washington finished last season with a 22-30 record, with a 10-14 record in conference. They finished ninth out of 12 teams, only followed by Fordham, UMass, and St. Bonaventure. The Colonials finished last season with two wins in a series victory over UMass. 

This Season

This season, the Colonials find themselves in a similar place. They currently sit at 5-16, which ranks tenth, with Dayton and St. Bonaventure behind them. So far, they have yet to win a series, getting swept by East Carolina and McNeese State and losing three series two games to one to Fairfield, Binghamton, and most recently, Niagara. Their two other victories came in midweek games against the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore on Feb. 22 and against Delaware on Mar 7. 

After today’s game, they will head back home to take on the Manhattan Jaspers in a three-game series this upcoming weekend and then will play James Madison next Tuesday. Then, it will be onto conference play against Dayton. 

Hitters to Watch 

George Washington has a collection of players who have had a strong start to the year offensively, most notably three starters who have yet to miss a game. 

Junior Eddie Micheletti Jr. highlights the group. He comes into Tuesday’s match with a .391 batting average, 1.028 OPS, and a .563 slugging percentage. He has tallied 34 hits, 19 RBIs, 11 runs scored, 10 walks, and 10 strikeouts. His 34 hits is currently the leader in the A-10 conference.

Senior Steve DiTomaso is the next best for the Colonials. He currently holds a .315 batting average, an .816 OPS, and a .446 slugging percentage. He has recorded 29 hits, 12 RBIs, 12 runs scored, 7 walks, and 13 strikeouts.

Finally, there is graduate student Michael Kohn. Kohn has notched a .312 batting average, a .976 OPS, and a .558 slugging percentage. He has 24 hits, 15 RBIs, 17 runs scored, 12 walks, and 20 strikeouts.

Pitchers to Watch

The Colonials only have two pitchers – junior Christopher Kahler and redshirt junior Logan Koester – who have averaged an inning pitched per game. 

Kahler has started this season on fire, recording a 2.87 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and a .219 batting average allowed. He has allowed 25 hits and 10 runs while notching an impressive 31 strikeouts to 12 walks in 31.1 innings pitched.

Koester, on the other hand, has struggled to begin the 2023 campaign. He has recorded a 4.75 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and a .267 batting average allowed. He has allowed 32 hits and 16 runs while notching 17 strikeouts to 12 walks in 30.1 innings pitched.

Projected Starting Pitchers

Projected starting pitchers are currently unknown.

The Dirty Terps are coming back home.

After a successful road trip to Newark to take on Delaware, the Terps have extended their winning streak to five games. They’ll be looking to extend it even further this weekend, as they welcome the Albany Great Danes from the American East Conference. The two squads will face off at 4 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday, and 1 p.m. Sunday. 

Late game heroics came in clutch for the Terps on Wednesday afternoon, as they defeated the Blue Hens in a 13-11 10-inning thriller. Despite a shaky day defensively, the offense was humming from the start. The squad drove in six runs in the final two innings to secure the road win. Senior Nick Lorusso came up big, hitting his eighth home run of the year. He finished the day with two hits in five at-bats with a home run, three RBIs, and three runs scored. 

The Terps now sit at 9-7 on the young season. They’ll be looking for a successful weekend as they try to claw their way back into the rankings.

Here’s what you need to know about the visiting Great Danes.

Albany Great Danes (2-7-1)

Last Season

Albany wrapped up last season with a 22-25 overall record and an 11-19 conference record. They finished last in Division A of the American East, behind Maine, University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Hartford. However, they ended the season on a high note, with a victory over UMass Lowell, 4-1.

This Season

The Great Danes, 2-7-1, currently sit at second-to-last in their conference, with only UMass Lowell behind them. They started the season getting swept by Hofstra, losing two and tying one to Farleigh Dickinson, then finally getting in the win column against Central Connecticut State. Most recently, they went 1-2 in a series vs. St. John’s last weekend. They were supposed to play Army on Wednesday afternoon, but the game was postponed. 

Next weekend, they will head home to take on UMBC in a three-game series, then hit the road for an eight-game stretch. They will start that road trip against the University of Massachusetts at Amherst before beginning conference play against the New Jersey Institute of Technology the following weekend. 

Hitters to Watch

Albany has had a strong offensive output thus far despite its record. Junior Dan Tauken has far and away been Albany’s best hitter, leading the team in most offensive categories. He has tallied a .406 batting average with a team-high 13 hits, four of which have been doubles and three of which have been home runs. He also has recorded a phenomenal 1.313 OPS to go along with a .813 slugging percentage, 10 runs scored, and 12 RBIs. 

Redshirt senior Will Feil and redshirt junior Chris Fisher will be names to watch as well. Feil has recorded a .300 batting average, a .951 OPS, and a .500 slugging percentage with 12 hits, 9 runs scored, 12 RBIs, and a team-leading 11 walks. Fisher has recorded a .385 batting average, a .979 OPS, and a .423 slugging percentage with 10 hits, 8 runs scored, and 6 RBIs. 

These three are the only players for the Great Danes to have above a .300 batting average and above a .900 OPS.

Pitchers to Watch

Only three pitchers for the Great Danes – freshman Dylan Banner, redshirt junior Cregg Scherrer, and junior Connor Eisenmann – have averaged at least one inning pitched per game, and all three have struggled to start the new campaign. 

Banner holds a 6.57 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, and a .333 batting average allowed with 18 hits, 9 runs, 3 walks, and 13 strikeouts in 12.1 innings pitched. Scherrer holds a 6.60 ERA, 1.93 WHIP, and a team best .328 batting average allowed with 20 hits, 12 runs, 9 walks, and 15 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. Finally, Eisenmann holds a rough 9.95 ERA, 2.21 WHIP, and a .333 batting average allowed with 18 hits, 16 runs, 10 walks, and 7 strikeouts in 12.2 innings pitched.

Projected Starting Pitchers

Friday, March 17th: Jason Savacool and Cregg Scherrer

Saturday, March 18th: Nick Dean and Connor Eisenmann

Sunday, March 19th: Kyle McCoy and TBD

As Maryland plays its first midweek road game of the season, they face a familiar foe in the Delaware Blue Hens. Though, instead of losers of three of their last four, this time the Terps ride a four-game win streak that was highlighted by their first sweep of the season against the Maine Black Bears.

Maryland kicked off last weekend with a dominant 25-10 victory where Jason Savacool was in prime form after allowing only one run on two hits after six innings pitched. The Terps also hit six homers on the night with Matt Shaw, Nick Lorusso, and Elijah Lambros getting two a piece.

Saturday proved to be a bit more suspenseful, but the Terps squeaked by with a 5-4 victory after a solo shot by Ian Petrutz in the bottom of the eighth gave Maryland a permanent one-run lead. Nigel Belgrave closed out the ninth.

Nate Haberthier, Kyle McCoy, and David Falco Jr. all combined for a one-run day to clinch the sweep for Maryland with a 9-1 victory on Sunday, which also saw home runs from Matt Woods and Bobby Zmarzlak. The Terps’ efforts got them over the .500 plateau as they climbed to 8-7 on the year.

Delaware Blue Hens (6-9)

Last Season

Delaware had an underwhelming season last year as they only managed a 25-26 record and went a miserable 8-15 in conference play in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Blue Hens finished second-to-last in the conference and went into the conference tournament as the No. 8 seed. Their season ended with two straight losses to the No. 6 Northeastern in the tournament. 

Delaware’s offense was far from miserable last year, however, as they finished the year with a .277/.356/.439 slash line, with the batting average being good enough to place them at the top of their conference. The Blue Hens also had three hitters bat over .300 on the year in second team All-CAA Joseph Carpenter, two-way player Bryce Greenly, and Jake Dunion. Two out of three of these players remain on the roster. It was the Blue Hens’ pitching that gave them issues, as their above-five ERA and 1.54 WHIP was only good enough for seventh in the conference.

This Season

Delaware has continued its losing ways, as after 15 games they once again find themselves underwater at 6-9. The Blue Hens offense has remained at a high level with an even higher slash line of .287/.402/.473, but their pitching has fallen off a cliff with an overall ERA of 8.54 and a horrendous WHIP that sits at 2.01. However, the team comes into Tuesday relatively hot after they took two of three during a weekend series at home in which they outscored Hofstra 40-22.

Hitters to Watch

Delaware lost one of its best hitters from last year in Joseph Carpenter, but the Hens have had multiple players fill the gap. Like last year, Bryce Greenly continues to lead the team with a .368 batting average, with his 21 hits on the year being good enough for second-best on the team. 2022 First team All-CAA Joey Loynd continues to build on last year’s campaign, with a slash line of .344/.419/.656 as he leads the team with 22 RBIs and four home runs. 2022 Honorable mention All-CAA member JJ Freeman, Jake Dunion, and Brett Lesher are also all batting over .300 for the Blue Hens.

Pitchers to Watch

Although Delaware’s pitching has been unquestionably horrendous to start the year, there have been those who have been far from disappointing. One such name is Joey Silan who in four appearances and 16.1 IP has maintained a 4.41 ERA and 1.41 WHIP. Dan Frake has also made four appearances and has maintained a 3.48 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP after 10.1 IP. And Bryce Greenly is once again earning his two way player title as he has started four games in four appearances so far, although he does have an 0-2 record with a 6.00 ERA. 

Probable Starting Pitching Matchup

TBD

One cannot predict for certain who will start this game for the Terps, though it remains a strong possibility that Logan Ott will get the nod. This is after the midweek starter in the last two games in Kyle McCoy pitched three innings in the Sunday win against Maine. Ott has formed the second part of a one-two punch with McCoy for midweek games with a 4.85 ERA in 13 IP and a 2-0 record on the year. Ott did not pitch this weekend, so there is a strong chance he at least makes an appearance against the Blue Hens.

In Delaware’s three midweek games on the year, there have been three different starters, although Wyatt Nelson, who started the midweek game against the Terps two weeks ago, has been utilized heavily in every midweek game so far. Nelson also did not pitch in any of the Hofstra games in the weekend series for the Blue Hens, so he may earn the start for Wednesday’s game in Newark.

It’s finally time for a weekend at home.

Maryland baseball gets set for its first home weekend series of the young season as the Maine Black Bears of the America East Conference travel to Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.

The Terps are coming off a victory against the neighboring UMBC Retrievers, who traveled down I-95 for a midweek matchup in College Park. Matt Woods was a major benefactor in Maryland’s 12-6 win after his bases-clearing triple.

Prior to the rout of the Retrievers, Maryland struggled in the Cambria College Classic at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn., dropping all three of its contests of the weekend to No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 7 Vanderbilt, and Hawaii.

Sitting at 5-7 and falling out of the D1 Baseball Top 25 Rankings, the Terps look to hit the reset button this weekend and get back to an even record.

Here is what to look out for against the visiting Black Bears.

Maine Black Bears (3-6)

Last Season

Maine concluded last season with a 27-22 record and finished atop Baseball Division A of the America East Conference. Competition was not the strongest in that division with the likes of University of Massachusetts Lowell, Hartford, and Albany, but the Black Bears did finish in first place by a landslide and tied Stony Brook – members of Baseball Division B – for the best record in the entire conference.

Hosting the America East Tournament last May at Mahaney Diamond, the Black Bears lost to both UMass Lowell and New Jersey Institute of Technology. 

This Season

Currently sitting at 3-6, Maine won its opening series of the season against Pittsburgh, then lost two games to Monmouth, one game to Northern Illinois, and two games to Winthrop. Though, the team salvaged the last game of the Winthrop series and comes into this weekend after that win, succeeding the five-game losing streak.

The Black Bears have a long stretch of games in the DMV, as they face George Mason and George Washington next Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, and UMBC for a weekend series. They then play Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and move onto conference play the weekend after.

Hitters to Watch

Maine has put up some strong offense so far this season despite its unfavorable record. Quinn McDaniel, Jake Rainess, and Jeremiah Jenkins have established a splendid trio that has put up great numbers thus far.

McDaniel, a junior infielder, has a .480 batting average and 23 total bases in 25 plate appearances, though he has only driven in five runs. Rainess and Jenkins, a redshirt junior utility player and a sophomore first baseman and designated hitter, respectively, both have a .378 batting average with 37 plate appearances and four home runs. All three players have an above-1.000 OPS and slugging percentages above .700, with McDaniel sitting at an astronomical .920 slugging.

The Black Bears have six players with a batting average above .300, seven players with an OPS above .700, and four players with a slugging percentage above .500, which only includes players that meet a minimum requirement of two plate appearances per game and 75 percent of games played so far this season.

Pitchers to Watch

Colin Fitzgerald has been the best Maine pitcher this season by a wide margin. The sophomore boasts a 1.80 ERA in 15 innings pitched with 15 strikeouts and 14 hits allowed. He has limited opposing hitters to a .246 batting average and has only given up three extra base hits in his three outings.

Probable Starting Pitchers

Friday, March 10th: Jason Savacool and Caleb Leys

Saturday, March 11th: Nick Dean and Colin Fitzgerald

Sunday, March 12th: Nate Haberthier and Noah Lewis

After an action packed Cambria College classic series this past weekend, the Terps head back home Tuesday for their midweek game. Maryland will take on a familiar foe in the crosstown UMBC Retrievers on Tuesday for their third straight midweek game at The Bob.

The Terps will be desperate for a rebound in what has been a disappointing start to the season so far, which only continued with the Terps dropping all three of its games this past weekend. Maryland started off against a familiar foe on Friday as they yet again faced the No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels to start off the weekend. Jason Savacool was on the mound, and he would allow only three runs in five innings, but the Terps would only score one run on the night as they fell 5-1 to begin the weeknd.

Initially, Saturday didn’t look much better for Maryland, as against the No. 7 Vanderbilt Commodores, the Terps would initially go down 5-1 after two innings. Although, after a monster five run fifth inning that was headlined by a three run Kevin Keister homer, the Terps would go up 6-5. Vanderbilt would tie it up in the bottom of the inning, but a Nick Lorusso homer would give Maryland a one run lead which they took into the ninth inning. But both Nigel Belgrave and Kyle McCoy would fail to close out the game in the ninth, and Vanderbilt scored two runs for a heartbreaking walk off 8-7 victory. 

In the final game of the series, the exhausted Maryland squad faced the Hawaii Warriors. Nate Haberthier would allow five runs in 5 ⅓ innings and be charged with the loss with the Terps falling to the Warriors by a score of 9-3. Maryland failed to win a game at the Cambria College Classic and fell to 4-7 on the year in what proved to be an immensely disappointing weekend for a team that had high expectations coming into the season.

UMBC Retrievers (4-3)

Last Season

The 2022 season did not prove to be kind to the Retrievers, as the team was bombarded by multiple and lengthy losing streaks. UMBC went 23-31 on the year and finished a miserable 11-19 in conference play, which placed them last in the America East Conference B Division. UMBC’s season would end on a 2-1 loss in the America East Tournament to the New Jersey Institute of Technology. A strong point for UMBC was its hitting, which overall had a slash line of .289/.392/.404 that was good enough for third in America East. The Retrievers offense was led by America East Second Team member Ian Diaz, who started in all 55 of the team’s games. UMBC’s pitching was the main weak point for the team as they had a subpar 5.97 ERA and a paltry 1.67 WHIP.

This Year

UMBC has so far had a solid start to the year where they have had an above .500 record after their first seven games. Although UMBC started the year off by losing to Delaware in an 11-22 game, the Retrievers have since stabilized themselves by salvaging their first and so far only weekend series of the year at the College of Charleston, where they took one of three games. Since their 1-3 start, UMBC has managed to go on a three game winning streak. The streak includes two doubleheader wins on Sunday in Delaware against Delaware State University and St Peter’s University, where they outscored their opponents 15-7 on the day.

Hitters to Watch

The main hitter for the Retrievers to watch last year would have undoubtedly have been Ian Diaz, and this remains the same going into Tuesday. The graduate student is off to a torrid start so far, slashing .478/.657/.826 in seven games with seven RBI and a homerun. However, it’s not only Diaz you need to watch out for, as the entire UMBC team has started off the year slashing .298/.406/.438 from behind the plate. Other headliners for the team include sophomore Matt Ryan, who has built on a strong freshman campaign with a .357 batting average and six RBI in seven games. Freshman Molessa Leewood has also had a scalding start to his college career, with a whopping nine RBI and a home run along with a .355 batting average in seven games.

Pitchers to Watch

UMBC’s hitting has remained and even surpassed last year’s level this year, but its pitching has so far taken a step back, with a 7.50 ERA and abysmal 1.80 WHIP to start the year. Sophomore southpaw Jordan Shertel has stood out despite the team struggles, as he pitched 5 ⅓ innings against Delaware State, while allowing only one run on the day. Freshman Joshua Rivera has also started his college career off right with a 3.37 ERA after three relief appearances. Junior Sam Daniels and senior Connor Kelly are other relief pitchers who have had good starts as both have not allowed a run on the year in three and two appearances respectively.

Probable Starting Pitching Matchup

TBD

In Maryland’s two midweek games on the year, Ryan Van Buren and Kyle McCoy started the game, though both pitched this past weekend, so Coach Rob Vaughn will likely look elsewhere for starters against UMBC. This is very likely to be junior lefty Logan Ott, who has a 3.37 ERA on the year. Ott not only did not pitch in the weekend series, but was magnificent against Delaware last Tuesday with 4 ⅔  innings pitched where he only allowed two runs.

The Retrievers are coming off of a doubleheader this past Sunday, which means their main starters and bullpen pieces may be out of commission for Tuesday’s game. The names mentioned above in Jordan Shertel, as well as reliever Sam Daniels if the Retrievers make it a bullpen game, would be strong starting candidates as they both didn’t pitch Sunday.

After an exciting home win on Tuesday, the Terps are heading back on the road to Minneapolis for the Cambria College Classic. The No. 18 Maryland Terrapins (4-4) will have a busy weekend as they face No. 4 Ole Miss on Friday, No. 7 Vanderbilt on Saturday, and Hawaii on Sunday.

The Terps picked up a much-needed win on Tuesday as they beat Delaware 8-3, moving them back to .500. The offense continued to be hot as they extended their streak of hitting a home run in every game this season. A first-inning home run from Ian Petrutz, his fifth of the season, put the Terps up early. Elijah Lambros hit his third home run of the season with a two-run homer in the fourth. Luke Shliger went 2-for-3 including a two-RBI double which extended his hit streak to six games.

Freshman LHP Kyle McCoy made his first start and struck out two batters in a scoreless first inning. From there Logan Ott took over, tossing a career-high seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings of play.

Maryland will look to build on this at the Cambria College Classic this weekend. It won’t be easy, as the Terps will face two top-10 ranked opponents in Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. This will also be the first time Maryland has faced Hawaii in program history.

Ole Miss Rebels (7-2)

Last Season

In 2022 the Rebels finished 42-23 (14-16) and stepped up in the postseason, winning 10 of 11 games on their way to their first championship in program history. Ole Miss has retained some of their key pieces from their championship team. All-tournament team members Calvin Harris and Kemp Anderson return for another potential postseason run.

This Season

The Rebels are off to a hot start this season, starting 7-2. Maryland already caught a glimpse of this Ole Miss team last weekend in Oxford, Mississippi. The Terps were able to take the first game of the series, winning 9-2, but dropped the final two games.

Hitters to Watch

Junior shortstop Jacob Gonzalez has continued his hot start to the season after batting a combined 5-for-7 in two games against Louisianna Tech. Gonzalez leads the team in batting average (.441), hits (15), and is tied for first in RBIs with 14.

Outfielder Calvin Harris lit up the Terps in their most recent game last Sunday. Harris collected four hits and had two home runs, including a game-ending grand slam that put the Rebels up by 10.

Pitchers to Watch

Ole Miss ace Hunter Elliot is still sidelined with a sprained UCL. The Terps will likely face off against junior righty Jack Dougherty. This will be the second time they have faced off against Dougherty this season. Last Friday against the Terps Dougherty struck out three but allowed three runs on six hits through four innings.

Vanderbilt Commodores (6-3)

Last Season

Vanderbilt was just one win short of a third-straight 40-win season in 2022, finishing 39-23. The Commodores went to the NCAA Regional but were one win short of advancing to the Super Regional, losing to Oregon State 7-6. This snapped a streak of four consecutive Super Regional appearances.

This Season

The Commodores start this season 6-3, including a ranked win against No. 9 Oklahoma State and two wins against No. 17 UCLA. They go into this weekend riding a two-game win streak after a comeback win over Austin Peay on Tuesday 11-7.

Hitters to Watch

The headliner of this offense so far this season has been sophomore infielder Jonathan Vastine. Vastine is batting a team-high .394 with two home runs and 10 RBIs. 

The whole offense contributed to the comeback on Tuesday as eight players collected hits and five of them recorded a multi-hit game. Junior outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr. reached base five times and scored two runs in the win.

Pitchers to Watch

The pitching staff is a strong point for Vanderbilt led by Devin Futrell and Carter Holton. Futrell, a sophomore LHP, has earned a 1.80 ERA and held opponents to a .147 batting average in two starts this season. Carter Holton is also a sophomore LHP that has posted a 1.93 ERA through his first two starts this season. Both Futrell and Holton pitched last weekend against UCLA and could be in line to start again this weekend.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors (4-3)

Last Season

Hawaii finished last season just above .500 with a 28-24 record. This was not enough to break their NCAA tournament drought as Hawaii has not made it since 2010. Hawaii looks to build off its first full winning season since 2018 and snap its tournament drought.

This Season

The Rainbow Warriors have started this season with a 4-3 record, most recently losing to San Diego State. Last weekend, they went 1-2 at the Tony Gwynn Legacy games in San Diego. The game versus Maryland on Sunday will be the first time the two programs have ever faced off.

Hitters to Watch

Through their first seven games this season Hawaii has hit seven home runs. The standout of this offense has been redshirt sophomore outfielder Jared Quandt. Quandt leads the Rainbow Warriors in batting average with .563 and home runs with three. After missing last season due to injury, Quandt has returned better than ever.

Pitchers to Watch

Hawaii has used a large pool of pitchers this season, with 15 pitchers making appearances so far. Of those 15 pitchers only one pitcher, Randy Abshier, has made multiple starts and has posted a 2.45 ERA through 7.1 innings.

Following their Oxford weekend series against the defending college baseball champions in the No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels, No. 18 Maryland heads back to The Bob to take on the Delaware Blue Hens in a one game homestand.

The Terps road series against the defending champs started out in a very promising manner with a 9-2 win against Ole Miss on Friday, where ace Jason Savacool recovered from a rough opening game against USF. Even an unfamiliar glove was unable to hinder Savacool after his luggage was lost by Southwest, as he pitched seven innings, allowing only five hits and two runs, while leading the Terps to victory. 

Along with Savacool’s gem, Ian Petrutz would hit his 2nd grand slam of the year, which marked Maryland’s fourth game of the season where a grand slam was hit. 

However, things went downhill from Friday night for Maryland. The Terps were up 6-4 against the Rebels going into the bottom of the seventh on Saturday afternoon. Though, Ole Miss would score eight unanswered runs to end the game. Usually reliable bullpen arm David Falco Jr would allow a five run inning in the eighth, as the Terps dropped the second game of the series by a score of 12-6. 

With the series on the line on Sunday, Maryland went into the bottom of the seventh down 11-8, however, the bullpen once again disappointed. Tommy Kane, Eliakim Stowe, and Andrew Johnson could not manage to get an out in the seventh as Ole Miss scored seven runs and the game ended in a bitter mercy rule for Maryland with a final score of 18-8, which dropped the Terps to 3-4 on the year.

Delaware Blue Hens (3-4)

Last Season

Delaware’s 2022 season was one that could be described as mediocre at best and underwhelming at worst. The Blue Hens had a 25-26 record to end the year while finishing a miserable 8th in the CAA and 8-15 in conference play. Delaware’s season ended in the CAA tournament after two straight losses to the six seed Northeastern. The Blue Hens pitching was significantly lacking as they had a 5.06 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP overall. Delaware’s offense was substantially better than its pitching as their slash line was .277/.356/.439 as a team. The Blue Hens were led by 2022 first team All-CAA Joey Loynd, who had a batting average of .298 with 45 RBI and eight home runs, and second team All-CAA Joseph Carpenter, who had a batting average of .310 with 41 RBI and eight home runs.

This Season

Delaware is so far just under water to start the year as they go into Tuesday’s game with a 3-4 record and looking to get back to .500. Delaware’s pitching has been nothing short of horrendous, as the team has combined for a 10.83 ERA, this was thanks to a tough season opening series against Ole Miss, where the Blue Hens dropped all three games by a combined score of 35-6. Unlike the pitching, the offense for Delaware has been much better as they have so far slashed .267/.388/.412 to start the year with Bryce Greeley, Dan Covino, and Joey Loynd leading the way.

Hitters to Watch

With Joseph Carpenter having signed with the Lancaster Barnstormers in the Independent Atlantic League, the Blue Hens’ hitters have had somewhat of a hole to fill. Familiar faces who have stepped so far up include Joey Loynd who is hitting .323 with a whopping 14 RBI and one home run after just seven games played. Bryce Greeley leads the team in batting average as he hits .360 from behind the plate along with five RBI and two home runs. The Blue Hens also have new blood come up big for them this year so far as Central Connecticut State transfer Dan Covino, who was first team All-ECAC back in 2022, has hit .333 so far along with four RBI. Redshirt sophomore Brett Lesher has also started the year off nicely with five hits and a .263 batting average.

Pitchers to Watch

Delaware’s team weakness has been its pitching this year, but there are still those on the roster who have stood out in the Blue Hen’s first seven games. Luke Pizzico earned the win last year when the Blue Hen’s faced off against the Terps after pitching 2 scoreless innings. Pizzico has a 4.50 ERA in 3 appearances, with all of the appearances coming from the bullpen, making him very likely to see action against the Terps. Joey Silan is another name to watch, as he has made 2 appearances out of the bullpen and compiled a 3.24 ERA, including 4.1 scoreless innings with only one hit allowed against Ole Miss.

Probable Starting Pitching Matchup

TBD

This very likely will end up being a bullpen game for the Terps as the Terps’ main three starters in Jason Savacool, Nick Dean, and Nate Haberthier all started this past weekend in Oxford.

In Maryland’s only midweek game of the year, Ryan Van Buren earned the start, however he allowed 4 runs after only 2/3 of an inning, so it’s possible that Coach Rob Vaughn will seek to give another one of his guys a chance to start. Kenny Lippman, who has compiled a 1.80 ERA in three appearances and Logan Ott, who has a 2.70 ERA in 3 ⅓ innings, could be candidates for the start.

Delaware’s only midweek game so far was a bullpen game, with Bryce Greenly pitching a scoreless first inning, and Dan Frake pitching three innings, allowing two hits and one run as the Blue Hens beat UMBC by a score of 22-11. Both could possibly start in Tuesday’s game.

Coming off of a somewhat disappointing start to the season, the No. 14 Maryland Terrapins (2-2) are back on the road for their second series of the year against the 2022 College World Series Champions, the red-hot No. 4 Ole Miss Rebels (4-0).

After their comeback fell short in the first game of the season, Maryland won its next two games thanks to grand slams in both contests courtesy of Nick Lorusso and Ian Petrutz. With the offense looking revitalized, things seemed to be going Maryland’s way. Unfortunately in their next game against West Virginia, the Mountaineers dismantled the Terps’ pitching as they put up seven runs and caused three pitching changes in the first three innings alone. A late comeback attempt by the Terps failed as they fell to 2-2 on the young season.

Ole Miss, however, has been firing on all cylinders out of the gate as they won all four of their games to start the new season. So far the Rebels have outscored their opponents 46-9 thanks to the slugging trio of Chatagnier, Alderman, and Gonzalez. Equally impressive has been the Rebels’ pitching with an average ERA of 2.69 between their four starters so far. However, Ole Miss will be without their ace Hunter Elliot this weekend as he deals with forearm tightness.

The game Friday will be just the third time ever these programs have squared off on the diamond. The series is currently tied at 1-1 with the most recent victory being Maryland’s back on May 29, 2015 when the Terps won 3-1.

Last Season

Ole Miss went 42-23 (14-16) in 2022 where they breezed through the NCAA Regionals and Super Regionals before advancing to the College World Series. There, they went 5-1 with wins against Auburn, Arkansa, and finally Oklahoma to claim their title as champions of college baseball. From that team, the Rebels return their top hitters in Gonzalez, Harris, and Alderman as well as their top pitchers in Elliot, Dougherty, and Nichols to attempt another run at glory.

Hitters to Watch

With Elliot out due to injury, look for the junior right hander Jack Dougherty to make his first start of the season on Friday. Last season he was used mainly as a reliever, posting a 4.91 ERA with 61 K’s over 44 innings on the mound. Against Delaware, Dougherty pitched 2.1 innings, allowed zero hits, and struck out five of the seven batters he faced.

Also expected to start a game this weekend is the freshman right hander Grayson Saunier. The four-year letterwinner out of Memphis posted a 2.33 ERA with 63 strikeouts over 48 innings during his senior season. In his first collegiate start against Delaware he allowed zero runs and just one hit with five K’s over four innings of work.

Xavier Rivas, the junior lefty transfer from Indianapolis, is another name to watch out for. Last season, he posted a flawless 7-0 record with a 2.24 ERA, 128 K’s, and four complete games. Against Delaware, the Indiana native allowed just one run and struck out eight of the 13 batters he faced.

Pitchers to Watch

Coming off of 2022 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and First Team All-SEC selections, junior shortstop Jacob Gonzalez is already making noise this year. Last year, Gonzalez was a beast. As a sophomore, he was 1st on the team in runs, 2nd in home runs, 2nd in RBIs, 2nd in OPS, and 3rd in hits including a home run, two RBIs, and two runs in the national title-clinching game against Oklahoma. So far this season, he is already leading his team in RBIs with nine.

Across from Gonzales in the infield is senior second baseman Peyton Chatagnier. The 2020 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All American had a decent 2022, hitting .248 with 11 home runs, 45 RBI’s, 47 runs, and was second on the team with six stolen bases. He has been a powerhouse in the early window leading the Rebels in batting average (.583), hits (7), home runs (2), slugging (1.167), on-base percentage (.625), and OPS (1.729).

Tied for the team lead in hits and home runs is junior Kemp Alderman. Of his 58 starts last season, he was a designated hitter for 52 of them and an outfielder for six. Alderman was very productive in his DH role, finishing second on the team in doubles, tied for third in home runs, fourth in slugging, and fifth in batting average, on-base percentage, and hits. He and Charagnier have almost identical stats on the year, both tied for first in hits and home runs, but Alderman has three more RBI’s going into the series against Maryland.