Preview: No. 18 Maryland baseball gets set for Cambria College Classic

No. 18 Maryland baseball (4-4) travels to Minneapolis this weekend for the Cambria College Classic. 

The Terps are coming off a 8-3 victory over Delaware Tuesday afternoon. 

“We’re not even close to playing our best brand of baseball yet, so we’ll keep getting better,” coach Rob Vaughn said. 

The Terps are first set to face No. 4 Ole Miss (7-2) after falling in a series defeat last weekend against the Rebels.

The Terps took the first game of the series in a 9-2 victory. Junior ace Jason Savacool threw seven innings, striking out nine batters in the process. The right-hander is averaging a 3.46 ERA on the season with a 1.08 WHIP. 

“We’ll run Jason out on Friday and hope he gives us a great start like he did last weekend,” Vaughn said. 

Following the win, the Terps dropped the last two games, allowing a combined 30 runs. In the third and final game, Maryland lost in mercy rule fashion in the seventh inning, falling 18-8 after a seven-run seventh inning.

The pitching has been a major struggle for the Terps, who averaged a 9.72 ERA in the Ole Miss series. They have a poor 6.72 ERA on the season. 

The Rebels on the other hand enter the tournament with a 4.81 ERA on the season, despite ace sophomore left-hander Hunter Elliott only starting one game due to injury. 

The Rebels boast an electric offense, averaging 9.6 runs per game. Junior shortstop Jacob Gonzalez leads the way for the offense with a .441 batting average. Gonzalez has posted two home runs and 14 RBIs thus far. 

The Terps boast a high scoring offense as well, averaging 7.6 runs a game in one of the best home run offenses in college baseball. The Terps have hit 16 home runs to begin the season, including four grand slams. 

Sophomore designated hitter Ian Petrutz leads the way with five home runs and 11 RBIs, batting .382 with a .882 slugging percentage. 

Junior catcher Luke Shliger has also been productive, living up to his captain status. Shliger is batting .387, the team lead, and has drawn five hit-by-pitches. 

“I thought our offense had a good weekend,” Shliger said. “We were able to produce a lot of runs against a good staff…I think we’re in for a good weekend.”

Maryland’s next opponent will be No. 7 Vanderbilt (6-3) on Saturday. 

The Commodores showcase one of the best pitching staffs among all Division One schools, led by sophomore left-handers Devin Futrell and Carter Holton. Futrell is averaging a 1.80 ERA with a 2-0 record while Holton also has a sub-two ERA with a 1.93 ERA and a 1-0 record. 

Offensively, second baseman Jonathan Vastine leads the pack. The sophomore enters with a .394 batting average, driving in runners at a good clip with 10 RBIs, the team lead.

Lastly, the Terps will face Hawaii (4-3) on Sunday. 

The Terps will be the Rainbow Warriors’ first ranked opponent of the season.

Hawaii opened the season with a series win over Wright State. After dropping the first game, the Rainbow Warriors went onto win the next three by a 33-13 margin.

They then went 1-2 in the next three games, defeating North Dakota State but falling to San Diego and San Diego State. 

Redshirt sophomore right fielder Jared Quandt spearheads the offense, with a .563 batting average and a 1.188 slugging percentage. 

The ace for Hawaii is sophomore right-hander Alex Giroux. Giroux enters with a 1.29 ERA and a .57 WHIP. 

The Terps’ first game is scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday in the U.S. Bank Stadium in a rematch against the Rebels.

“We want to be among the best in college baseball,” Vaughn said. “We’ll go out and beat them this weekend. We’re gonna see two of college baseball’s best on Friday and Saturday.”