Which Maryland team will show up in East Carolina?

Through 16 games,the Maryland Terrapins baseball team’s season can simply be described by the lyrics in Katy Perry’s hit song “Hot n Cold”.

“You’re hot then you’re cold, you’re yes then you’re no, you’re in then you’re out, you’re up then you’re down.”

The Terps have been just that this season, looking strong at times while struggling at others. Just last week, the team went through a roller coaster of games. The offense was stifled on Thursday against Delaware and Friday against Bryant,, but broke out against the Bulldogs on Saturday and Sunday. Then, this Tuesday against Delaware, the Terps quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead only to let it slip away and eventually lose 7-6 on a walk-off home run.

When Maryland heads down to face No. 18 East Carolina for a three-games series this weekend, the goal will be to find some consistency.

That will have to start with the offense. Junior Nick Dunn and senior Zach Jancarski are doing most of the heavy lifting for the Terps, batting .345 and .295, respectively. Senior Kevin Biondic has also been a key contributor, but his batting average has dropped as of late.

Besides those three hitters, the rest of the lineup is a wildcard for Maryland. includes outfielder Marty Costes, who continues an attempt to battle his way out of a season-long slump. Against Bryant on Sunday, Costes took his first steps to breaking out after delivering a clutch go-ahead single in the bottom of the eighth inning.

“I believed in Marty 100 percent,” pitcher Hunter Parsons said about Costes’ clutch at-bat. “I’ve been saying the past couple games he’s one hit away from breaking out and being the hitter he was last year. I think that was probably the start today.”

For the offense to get hot again, they’ll have to do it against a strong East Carolina pitching staff. Sophomore right-hander Trey Benton will most likely get the ball on Friday for the Pirates. Benton, who has been the team’s Friday starter all year, holds a 3-1 record with a 2.13 ERA in 25 ⅓ innings pitched.

The Pirates will likely deploy junior Chris Holba and sophomore Jake Agnos for the other two games.That is subject to change, however, as sophomore Tyler Smith did earn a weekend start recently. All three have been strong, with Holba, who is 4-0 with a 0.71 ERA in 25 ⅓ innings pitched, having the best season so far.

When the Terps send their pitchers to the mound this weekend, it will be the usually-steady rotation of Taylor Bloom, Tyler Blohm and Hunter Parsons. Bloom and Blohm have mostly been reliable arms for the Terps, but Parsons’ recent string of dazzling performances has given the Terps a lethal weekend series rotation. After struggling in the opening series against Tennessee, Parsons has thrown seven scoreless innings and then a complete game in his last two starts.

For that success to continue, Parsons and the rest of the Maryland pitchers will have to find a way to shut down East Carolina’s three-headed monster consisting of Jake Washer, Brady Lloyd and Connor Litton. All three are batting over .340, with Washer leading the team in batting average at .432. Litton leads the team with 22 hits..

The series starts Friday in Greenville, North Carolina, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m.