Preview: Maryland baseball readies for Kleberg Bank College Classic

Maryland baseball (3-1) will travel to Corpus Christi, Texas, for the Kleberg Bank College Classic this weekend. The Terps will play Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (3-3) on Friday, Pittsburgh (3-0) on Saturday and Washington (0-2-1) on Sunday.

Maryland is coming off its home opener on Tuesday, where the team cruised past Mount St. Mary’s in a 14-3 win. The Terps nearly matched their total runs from the prior three games in the dominant showing, jumping out to an early lead and cruising the rest of the way. Maryland got on base in various ways, registering double-digit hits and walks by the game’s end.

“[Coach Matt] Swope talks a lot about the process and not the results,” Kevin Keister said. “[On Tuesday] some guys hit the ball hard right at people … we’re just going to keep swinging at strikes and trying to hit the ball hard, and pass it off to the person behind us.”

Brayden Martin blew the Terps’ home opener wide open in the early frame with a three-run bases-clearing double, and Devin Russell put the game well out of reach late in the game with a towering three-run bomb to left center.

Maryland’s offense has come from numerous sources through the season’s first four games. The Terps have seven players with three or more RBIs so far and will look to continue utilizing their depth into the weekend.

But Maryland’s lineup hasn’t been perfect. Despite a big showing from the bats against the Mountaineers, the Terps were held scoreless in half of their innings at the plate and scored 12 of their 14 runs in just two innings. 

“I think we’ve done a good job of building a lot of innings up but haven’t quite punched through as much as we’d like to with the bases loaded and runners in scoring position,” Swope said. “We started off good and finished well, but we had too many lulls in the middle innings. So [we’re] just trying to find that consistency and have these guys understand how to push through in those moments right now.”

Maryland’s arms have been strong on the mound except for its lone loss to Georgia Southern. The Terps have surrendered just 15 runs through their first four games, an average of just 3.75 runs per game, and will look to continue their strong start this weekend.

Starting pitching has been a team strength for Maryland thus far. The Terps’ starter has pitched at least four innings in all of their wins, while in their lone loss, the starter failed to reach the four-inning mark.

“I think in college baseball, if you can minimize the freebies — which are walks in, hit by pitches, and give your offense a chance to hit and play defense — then you’re going to win more games than not,” Swope said. 

Maryland’s start to the Kleberg Bank College Classic will be against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday, the schools’ first all-time meeting. The Islanders are the hosts of the tournament, having already played one game this season at host site Whataburger Field, home to the Houston Astros Double-A affiliate. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi lost 13-7 to Kansas on Tuesday at the tournament field. 

The Terps will face Pittsburgh after taking on the Islanders. The Panthers have played just one series, sweeping Maine last weekend in Florida. Pittsburgh’s last game was on Saturday, so the team should be well-rested heading into the tournament.

Maryland will finish its weekend on Sunday with a future Big Ten matchup against Washington. Like the Panthers, the Huskies have only played one series, going 0-2-1 against Long Beach State.