Maryland baseball looks to return to NCAA Tournament behind retooled roster

Photo courtesy of Rose Fernandes/Maryland Athletics.

Maryland baseball will begin its 2026 season on Friday, looking to play late into the summer after consecutive years without NCAA postseason appearances.

The Terps will have to return to the postseason with several new faces after an offseason that saw significant player turnover, especially on the offensive side.

Only two batters who appeared in at least half of the games last year are returning: junior utility Brayden Martin and senior outfielder Aden Hill. Martin started all 56 games for the Terps last year, posting a .319 batting average and a .478 on-base percentage – he walked a team-high 59 times. Hill started all 55 games he played in, generating 10 home runs and 42 RBIs.

The biggest change on the mound was the departure of Kyle McCoy. Maryland’s ace was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the eighth round of the 2025 MLB draft.

The Terps brought in a number of transfer arms, including right-handed pitcher Lance Williams.

“Adding Lance at the front end of the rotation, having somebody who won a regional game last year for ECU vs Florida, with his kind of stuff, is a really, really big pull,” head coach Matt Swope said.

Williams went 3-1 for East Coast Carolina last season. Through 40.2 innings of work, he pitched to a 5.31 ERA with a 1.62 WHIP. He was primarily used out of the bullpen for the Pirates, but started eight games.

Other transfers include utility David Mendez from Vanderbilt, catcher Rylen Stockton from North Carolina Asheville, and first baseman Ryan Costello from Louisiana State.

“From the hitting side, we tried to get guys with a chip on their shoulder,” Swope said, “a lot of guys who want to prove something but were very talented and highly touted at one point.”

Mendez saw limited playing time at Vanderbilt last year, but was a standout as a freshman at Dayton. He was the Atlantic 10 Conference Freshman of the Year, finishing with a .342 batting average and 47 runs.

Stockton is another player who generated conference-leading stats in his freshman campaign. At North Carolina Asheville, Stockton made the Big South All-Freshman team. He totaled 60 hits in 49 games played and led his team with a .343 batting average while boasting stout defense – he threw out 19 runners.

Costello redshirted his freshman year at Louisiana State, but was a highly rated recruit coming into college. In his senior year at Ranney High School, Costello had a .562 batting average with 14 home runs.

Maryland also secured a top-25 recruiting class, according to Baseball America. Three Terps freshmen earned preseason honors.

Outfielder Bud Coombs and right-handed pitcher Austin Weiss were both on Perfect Game’s Top 100 Freshmen list, and infielder Ty Kaunas was Just Baseball’s preseason Big Ten Freshman of the Year.

Coombs was the top baseball recruit in Maryland. In his senior season at DeMatha High School, he had 29 runs and 23 RBIs in 26 games played.

Weiss was the number one left-handed pitching recruit in Maryland. He was a member of the 18U U.S. national team, making two appearances out of the bullpen and posting a 1.91 ERA in 3.2 innings. 

Kaunas was ranked the third-best shortstop out of Maryland by Perfect Game. He has a strong defensive reputation that has piqued the interest of MLB scouts.

“I’m really excited about this group,” Swope said. “They have the right mentality and they’re great kids.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Swope emphasized the importance of staying in the present.

“The more we can focus on the day-to-day process, the better we’re going to be at the other stuff,” Swope said.

“I’m excited to see everyone get out there and work,” Martin said. “We have a lot of people that can play a lot of different positions and do some good things out there. I feel like if everyone knows their role and sticks to their role, then I don’t see any reason why we can’t go out there and have a good series.”

The Terps start their season with a three-game series against UNC Wilmington beginning on Friday. 

The Seahawks went 34-24 last season, eventually losing in the CAA Conference Championship. Maryland is 5-10 all-time against UNCW, winning the last matchup in 2017.