Preview: How Maryland baseball stacks up against its competition in the Winston-Salem Regional

Maryland baseball (41-19, 17-7 Big Ten) has been selected to its third-straight NCAA tournament under coach Rob Vaughn, entering the Winston-Salem Regional as a No. 2-seed.  

It was a monumental season for the Terps, winning their first ever Big Ten tournament. Numerous records were broken, including the career program home run record by junior shortstop Matt Shaw and the career and season program runs batted in record by senior third baseman Nick Lorusso. 

The Terps feature a dynamic offense, recording a conference-high 9.25 runs per game. And after poor pitching for the majority of the season, the staff stepped up recently, posting a collective 1.22 ERA in the Big Ten tournament.

The Winston-Salem Regional features familiar faces for the Terps; they faced Wake Forest in last year’s NCAA regional and Northeastern earlier this month. With the NCAA tournament set to begin on Friday, here is a preview of the other three schools in Maryland’s bracket. 

No. 1-seed: Wake Forest (47-10, 22-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) 

Wake Forest enters the NCAA tournament as one of the best teams in the nation. The Demon Deacons currently possess the No. 1 ranking according to D1Baseball.com, and also hold the best RPI ranking. 

The Demon Deacons are home to one of the best pitching staffs in the country with a Division I-best 2.82 ERA and the ACC Pitcher of the Year in Rhett Lowder. The junior right-hander posted a perfect 13-0 record in 15 starts with a 1.69 ERA, allowing no runs in six of his outings. Sophomore left-handers Josh Hartle and Sean Sullivan also enter the tournament with sub-3.00 ERAs, averaging over a strikeout per inning.

The offense complements the pitching with an average of 8.9 runs a game. Junior third baseman Brock Wilken and sophomore first baseman Nick Kurtz are a pitcher’s nightmare with a combined 50 home runs. 

Wake Forest faced Maryland in the College Park Regional last year as the No. 3-seed, going 1-2 and having its season end to the Terps in a 10-5 defeat.

No. 3-seed: Northeastern (44-14, 20-10 Colonial Athletic Association)

The Huskies are right behind the Demon Deacons when it comes to pitching, with the second-best collective ERA in the nation at 3.57.

Four different Northeastern pitchers made an All-CAA team, headlined by freshman right-hander Aiven Cabral. Cabral received a nod on the All-CAA first team after recording a 2.26 ERA and a 9-3 record in 18 appearances.

Cabral wasn’t the only freshman to excel, as right fielder Cam Maldonado was awarded CAA Rookie of the Year. Maldonado finished with the second-best batting average on the team (.357) alongside 13 home runs.

Northeastern defeated Maryland in College Park in early May, 9-2. The Terps had no answer for graduate student first baseman Tyler MacGregor, who finished 3-4 at the plate with three home runs and four RBIs.

No. 4-seed: George Mason (34-25, 13-10 Atlantic Ten)

The Patriots won the A-10 title for just the second time in program history, defeating Saint Louis 6-2 on Saturday. It was somewhat of a surprise victory for the Patriots after placing sixth in the regular season.

But George Mason caught fire, winning five of its six games in the conference tournament to secure its spot in the NCAA tournament. Its pitching staff performed greatly in the postseason with a 3.76 ERA, nearly a full run less than its regular season average. 

Sophomore right-hander Chad Gartland earned Most Outstanding Performer of the tournament after tossing 9.2 innings for a 2.93 ERA.