Left-hander Jake Drossner throws a pitch during the Terps’ 1-0 loss to Cal State Fullerton at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium on April 19, 2015.

After an 8-6 loss to James Madison on March 24, Terrapins baseball coach John Szefc singled out the starting rotation as the team’s weakness.

But recently, the Terps’ pitching staff has played a role in the team’s success. Against Purdue this weekend, solid starts from the rotation helped the Terps secure a three-game sweep, their first in three weeks.

And heading into today’s midweek contest with Delaware at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium, Szefc hopes his pitching staff will build on their string of quality outings.

“It was our weakness, and at this point, it’s beginning to become our strength,” Szefc said. “It’s begun to get that way even with the awful injury to Tayler Stiles. He was clearly one of our top starting pitchers.”

The No. 21 Terps lost Stiles, who was settling in as the team’s No. 2 starter, after a line drive struck him in the face against Cal State Fullerton on April 18.

Still, the Terps have continued to silence opposing offenses in his absence. In three games against the Boilermakers this weekend, the Terps’ starters allowed just four runs (three earned) in 18.1 innings.

Right-hander Mike Shawaryn maintained his dominant sophomore campaign in the series opener Friday with 10 strikeouts in seven scoreless innings. His performance led to his record-breaking 21st career victory.

Shawaryn is tied for first in the nation with 10 victories in 11 starts this season. The Terps’ ace sports a 1.52 ERA and is holding opponents to a .187 batting average.

“He’s just getting better and better every time out,” Szefc said. “It gives our team a great amount of confidence playing behind him.”

While Shawaryn has impressed, the Terps’ starters behind him struggled earlier this year. Szefc used five different pitchers in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots through the first seven weekend series.

Even so, Shawaryn expressed confidence in his teammates.

“We have a lot of trust in our starters,” Shawaryn said. “We had a bumpy start to the season, and [pitching coach Jim] Belanger would literally just tell us, ‘You have to grind through it. It’s a long season.’”

And this weekend, left-handers Robert Galligan and Jake Drossner filled out the weekend rotation and shut down the Boilermakers’ offense.

“They’re pitching better because it’s not so much pressure on them, and they’re having fun,” catcher Kevin Martir said. “I just think they’re more comfortable.”

After Stiles was carted off the field in the first inning against Cal State Fullerton, Galligan gave up one run in six innings and earned his first win of the season. The Syosset, New York, native performed well in his first career start Friday night, pitching seven innings of two-run ball.

While Galligan recently moved into the starting rotation, Drossner began the season as the Terps’ No. 2 starting pitcher. But after one start, he was demoted to the midweek rotation before moving into the bullpen.

Drossner got another chance to start against Cal State Fullerton on April 19, and the junior threw eight shutout innings. Though he only pitched 4.1 innings Sunday — Szefc said his shortened outing was based on matchups — he allowed two runs (one earned) in the Terps’ 4-3 win.

“I don’t think Jake’s start was poor,” Szefc said. “He was pretty solid today.”

Entering their matchup with Delaware (18-5), the Terps (30-13) have lost three of their past four midweek games. After limiting Purdue to four runs this past weekend, however, the Terps’ starting pitchers seem to be back on track after a rough start to the year.

“We knew we had a lot of talented guys on the staff,” Shawaryn said. “We just kind of had to grind through it, and we did.”