The Terrapin baseball team limped to the end of the first half of its conference season with a demoralizing series loss to Boston College last weekend that further threw its postseason prospects into doubt.
But rather than dwell on the past, coach Erik Bakich and the Terps are hoping to use this weekend’s series against N.C. State as a launching point for a second-half resurgence.
“Yeah, this weekend is big for us, but what weekend in this conference isn’t?” Bakich said. “Anytime you get into a situation where you are saying ‘have to’ and ‘got to,’ you have stopped focusing on what you can control. There is half a season left. If we focus on making ourselves better each day, I guarantee we will have more success.”
Despite Bakich’s dismissals, a series victory this weekend against an inconsistent Wolfpack club could be crucial for the Terps’ postseason chances, especially considering the remaining schedule’s relative lack of favorable matchups.
After N.C. State (22-13, 6-9 ACC), the Terps (14-21, 4-11 ACC) host No. 2 Virginia next weekend before finishing the conference slate with three consecutive road series against No. 15 Miami, No. 17 Clemson and Wake Forest, who is in last place in the ACC.
The Terps, who have played exactly half of their 30 conference games this season, have yet to win a conference series this year and are a lackluster 3-13 away from the friendly confines of Shipley Field.
The Eagles’ own success last year lends insight into just how tall of a task the Terps face in their quest for a postseason appearance. The Eagles were the final team to earn a berth in the ACC Tournament last season, finishing 14-15 in the conference.
For the Terps to reach that benchmark this season, they will have to win 10 of their 15 remaining conference games.
“Right now, all we know is that we need to play a lot better if we are going to achieve our goals,” Bakich said. “We have never worried about who we play, or what they are ranked or what their statistics are. I think the team understands what is ahead of them and all we can do is worry about playing Maryland baseball, the rest will take care of itself.”
In order to revive their rapidly receding tournament hopes, the Terps will need to build on their offensive performance from Wednesday against UMBC.
The Retrievers’ pitching staff entered the game as one of the worst in the country, sporting an ERA hovering above eight. After suffering through one of their worst offensive weeks of the season last week, the Terps took advantage of subpar pitching to the tune of 15 hits and 10 runs, their largest offensive output since mid-March.
While the Wolfpack pitching staff ranks just ninth in the conference with a 5.16 ERA, it will undoubtedly boast a more talented rotation than UMBC. How players like second baseman David Poutier and first baseman Dan Gentzler perform could dictate the team’s chances for success.
Both have struggled at the plate this season, but on Wednesday, Gentzler had three hits while Poutier knocked in two RBI.
“From a confidence standpoint … [hitting well] will be a big help for our offensive going forward,” Gentzler said. “It doesn’t matter who is pitching. Sometimes, all it takes is a few balls to drop in the right places, and they just weren’t doing that earlier in the season. But I think we finally started to find some holes this weekend and hopefully we can carry that momentum over.”
lemaire@umdbk.com
