Maryland baseball’s dugout became progressively louder as right fielder Richie Schiekofer fouled off pitches against North Carolina starter Rodney Hutchison. With the Tar Heels hurler dealing Tuesday afternoon, the Terps hoped the 12-pitch at-bat in the third inning would spark a rally.
When Schiekofer struck out, however, the bench quieted. Hutchison said he noticed Maryland players looking deflated as they trudged toward their fifth straight defeat, marking the program’s longest skid since 2011.
While North Carolina recovered from a 3-5 start to its season by winning 10 of its next 13 outings, the Terps have failed to find consistent production in recent weeks. But Tar Heels coach Mike Fox said he expected Maryland to have a similar rebound in the near future.
“Just one swing of the bat, one game, one win, one big play can kind of jump-start your team,” Fox said. “This game can turn quickly. It did for us.”
The Terps found that one swing from center fielder Zach Jancarski to lead off Wednesday’s contest against Elon. His first-inning double down the third-base line kickstarted a revitalized offensive performance, setting up Maryland’s 11-3 victory in the finale to its road trip.
During the win, the Terps bench kept up the energy coach Rob Vaughn encouraged from his first day in charge, when he introduced more rap music to practices and allowed players to ditch stirrup socks on their uniforms.
Taking over for John Szefc, who departed in June for Virginia Tech after engineering Maryland baseball’s rise to prominence on the national scale, Vaughn is still feeling his way through the highs and lows of leading a team.
The Terps’ recent slide marked the toughest stretch of his brief tenure.
“If you look at ’14, ’15, when we had those big years, we had some tough times there,” Vaughn said. “It was harder and a little more magnified this year because it happened at the beginning of the season.”
Despite a roster primed with MLB prospects that was expected to pick up where it left off last season after an NCAA Regional appearance, Maryland’s batting order hasn’t yet lived up to the hype. Plus, the uncertainties surrounding an inexperienced bullpen have been on display during the Terps’ 10-11 start to the campaign.
“We tell these guys every day that failure is a prerequisite to success,” Vaughn said. “We just lived it a little bit. … Everybody wants it to be easy, but the reality is it’s not. And we’ve been tested a little bit. The tests aren’t done.
“We’ve got good teams coming in, we play a really good conference schedule this year, but I’m proud of the guys for finishing up this road trip on a good note.”
Fox, a 20-year veteran who has led North Carolina to the College World Series six times, understands Vaughn’s position. Fox felt the Tar Heels’ Sunday win over Louisville on March 11 to prevent a sweep helped spur his side to win five of its next six contests. He looked to his team’s dugout to supply the energy in those matchups.
It remains to be seen if Wednesday’s victory will provide a similar boost for Maryland entering its series against Stetson (18-3) this weekend. But the belief is still there that a turnaround can take place.
“Every day is the same, whether we’re on a five-game winning streak or a five-game losing streak,” left fielder Marty Costes said. “Things didn’t fall our way this past weekend, but we were right there, so we still have our confidence.”
