Maryland baseball (4-7), losers of five of its last six, has struggled to find a rhythm on either side of the ball through its first 11 games.
The production on the mound has lingered to the tune of a 6.53 earned run average. Through 11 games last season, the Terps’ pitching staff recorded a combined 3.15 ERA.
The Terps have surrendered eight or more runs six times; that didn’t happen once in their first 11 games last season. The weekend starters, who pitched to a combined 3.51 ERA last season, have surrendered a 5.86 ERA through three starts each.
Maryland currently ranks 120th in overall RPI and 9th in the Big Ten, each falling well short of its record-breaking 2022 season.
Coach Rob Vaughn scheduled tough early opponents for a good reason. Despite the weaker conference schedule –– which should help Maryland boost its record later in the season –– if Vaughn’s club wants to have a fighting chance in the postseason, these are the teams it has to compete with.
“I think the biggest test is –– and this is why you play a schedule like this –– can your guys continue to operate, can they continue to show up and block out everything and just go play baseball?” Vaughn said. “Or, do they let the frustration mount?”
After losing two out of three to the Rebels in their previous weekend series, including an 18-8 mercy rule shellacking, the Terps hoped to bring their momentum from a Tuesday 8-3 victory against Delaware to the Cambria College Classic.
However, the Terps lost by a combined 11 runs to No. 4 Ole Miss, No. 7 Vanderbilt and Hawaii in Minnesota. The offense put up three runs against the unranked Rainbow Warriors and one run against the Rebels.
Against Ole Miss on Friday, the Terps put up five hits and struck out 11 times. Against Hawaii on Sunday, the Terps recorded six hits while striking out eight times. While the offense has noticeably struggled to produce runs, it’s the amount of runners left on base in clutch situations that continues to be an issue. Nine runners were left on base against the Rebels and 12 against the Rainbow Warriors.
“We’ve just kinda been on the wrong side of things at the end more times than we’ve been on the right side so far this year,” Vaughn said.
Maryland’s Tuesday opponent, UMBC (4-3), is currently ranked one spot ahead of the Terps in RPI at 119. The Retrievers come into College Park sporting a three-game winning streak, but their strength of schedule currently sits outside the top 180 nationally, according to Warren Nolan.
Maryland defeated UMBC 2-0 in its season series last year, winning by a combined seven runs. Tuesday’s game will be a measuring stick to see where the Terps lie compared to last year’s team.
The Retrievers have an explosive offense, recording 48 RBIs through seven games this season.
The lineup is led by graduate student outfielder Ian Diaz and freshman first baseman Leewood Molessa, who have combined for 16 runs batted in in 2023. Diaz, in his third season with the Retrievers, was named to the 2022 America East second team. Molessa is bursting onto the scene in his freshman campaign, recording six RBis in an opening day loss to Delaware and sporting a .956 OPS.
Maryland will look to collect a victory against UMBC before an important upcoming home weekend series against Maine.
“The next six weeks don’t get any easier,” Vaughn said. “So this is where the toughness shows up…just keep grinding through it, don’t panic and keep showing up and playing baseball.”
