The Maryland baseball team has 10 games left to prove it belongs in the NCAA Regionals.
Baseball America and D1Baseball.com project the Terps (24-19, 9-6 Big Ten) to earn a No. 3 seed. Still, Baseball America lists Maryland as one of the last four teams in the field.
So for the Terps to find a spot in the postseason in the final month of the season, coach John Szefc said the Terps need their veteran players to step up, beginning this weekend with a three-game series against Illinois at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.
“A lot of the older guys have the experience in the postseason and know what it takes,” right-hander Mike Shawaryn said. “We’ve been trying to preach that all season long. As you’ll see down the back end of the season, a lot of us are starting to step up because one way or another, we don’t want this thing to end.”
But first, the Terps are focused on making the Big Ten Tournament, which features the top eight schools in the conference. Maryland sits in sixth place while the Fighting Illini (23-19, 7-8) hold the ninth position, making the three-game set crucial to each team’s postseason fate.
The Terps enter the week No. 47 in the RPI, the third-highest mark in a conference that Baseball America and D1Baseball.com project will send four teams to the tournament.
“Everybody’s got to elevate their game,” catcher Nick Cieri said. “We can’t give teams extra outs at this level. That’s what we did a lot early on between pitching and defense. We gave up a lot of extra outs and extra innings, and it really hurt us.”
Associate head coach Jim Belanger said the biggest factor in the Terps’ recent success — Maryland has won five of its past six game — is Shawaryn being able to solve the issues that doomed him the majority of the season. The Terps’ ace for each of the past two seasons combined to allow one run in 17 innings in wins against Purdue and Penn State.
Right-handers Taylor Bloom and Brian Shaffer, who hold respective ERAs of 2.12 and 2.78, have been consistently providing Maryland with quality starts.
And with Shawaryn dominating recently, Szefc said the Terps have one of the best weekend rotations in the country.
In addition to these three hurlers, Maryland’s bullpen also features three players with postseason experience — right-hander Ryan Selmer and left-handers Robert Galligan and Tayler Stiles.
Four offensive players have experienced a Super Regional, too, though they’ve had trouble at the plate throughout the year. Aside from first baseman Kevin Biondic, who leads the team in batting average (.317).
Shortstop Kevin Smith, outfielder Anthony Papio and Cieri, have the fifth, sixth and seventh best batting averages, respectively, of those who have taken at least 50 at-bats.
“Those guys have a lot of experience, and they’ve done it in the postseason,” Belanger said. “So we’re going to need those guys to be better than they’ve been.”
At this time last season, the Terp weren’t concerned with the selection committee leaving them out of the 64-team field. They finished the season 2-4 yet still earned the No. 3 seed in the Los Angeles Regional.
It doesn’t appear this year’s team will have that luxury, so the Terps believe it’s up to their veterans to solidify an NCAA Tournament berth in the coming weeks.
“Back-to-back Super Regional appearances, that’s really invaluable experience,” Shawaryn said. “Not every team has it. As a group, we’re starting to get into a groove. We’re getting ready to play our best ball of the season.”
