After the Houston Astros selected left fielder Marty Costes in the 25th round of the 2017 MLB Draft, he elected to return to Maryland baseball instead of beginning his professional career.

He wanted to improve his draft stock, and he figured his bat could help the Terps build on last year’s NCAA Regional appearance.

But Costes has appeared helpless at the plate for much of the year, not picking up the slack for a lineup that’s struggled around him. At 16-20, Maryland is unlikely to receive a postseason bid.

“He was draft-eligible last year, but it’s one thing when you walk into it knowing you have two years left,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “There’s some pressure that goes with that, that every junior in college deals with, and it’s just part of the maturing process of handling that thing the right way.”

[Read more: Maryland baseball suffers 14-3 loss to VCU as postseason hopes fade]

In Maryland’s 14-3 loss to VCU on Tuesday, Costes knocked a single through the middle and crushed a home run over the center field batter’s eye, clearing it with ample room. The 2-for-4 performance raised Costes’ batting average to .227. He hit .322 last year.

The long ball against the Rams was his first since March 21 and only his third this season, after he clubbed 13 last campaign. He’s tied for fourth on the Terps in homers and third for RBIs on a squad hitting below its preseason outlooks. Maryland’s .229 batting average is the third-lowest in the Big Ten, and the lineup has struck out 20 more times than the next-closest squad.

“Some guys are still going through adjustments,” Costes said. “Once we find that, I think the numbers are going to show for themselves rather than us pressing, thinking that we have to do too much at the plate.”

At Wednesday’s practice, Vaughn had hitters lay down bunts, getting back to the fundamentals that are so often the difference between scoring runs and stranding baserunners. Maryland has managed more than four runs only twice in its current 2-6 slide despite often putting players on base.

After right fielder Randy Bednar hit a leadoff double in the seventh against VCU, two infield popups prevented Bednar from advancing to third, and shortstop AJ Lee’s flyout ended the rally. The letdown exemplified Maryland’s inability to manufacture runs this year.

Costes is hitting just .194 with runners in scoring position. Vaughn has preached in practice lately that the lineup must have the same approach with players on as they do with the bases empty. Without positive results recently, Vaughn said some players feel the gravity of the situation and are putting pressure on themselves.

Vaughn hopes Costes’ first home run in 16 games ignites a resurgence from a hitter who was supposed to lead the offense this year.

“We have some guys that had really good years last year that haven’t quite matched those totals this year,” Vaughn said. “But shoot, we still got a third of the season left here and a lot of games to get moving in the right direction.”