Entering this season, numerous mock drafts projected Terrapins baseball right-hander Mike Shawaryn as a first-round selection in this summer’s MLB draft.
So in the junior’s starts each Friday this season, MLB scouts have crowded the stands and pointed their radar guns toward the field whenever Shawaryn throws a pitch.
But their reactions haven’t been positive. They’ve shaken their heads side-to-side in disbelief as the preseason All-American has accumulated the worst ERA of the Terps’ weekend rotation.
Friday in the Terps’ game against High Point, scouts continued to shake their heads. But they were put out of their misery early as some of them scurried out of Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium by the fourth inning.
Shawaryn was pulled after allowing three runs in a career-low 3.2 innings. The Terps couldn’t overcome that early deficit in a 7-2 loss to the Panthers that snapped their three-game winning streak.
“Mike is definitely not Mike right now,” Szefc said. “That was probably one of the worst games we’ve played all year. That was definitely the worst Friday night we’ve played all year.”
After coach John Szefc’s squad (13-13) recorded a combined 15 runs in two contests against VCU this week, the Terps racked up seven hits and went 2-for-10 with runners on base Friday.
Shawaryn allowed the game’s first score in the third inning when second baseman Hunter Lee hit an RBI single.
High Point (19-7) loaded the bases the following inning after Shawaryn hit two batters with pitches. The Panthers scored two runs in the frame and knocked Shawaryn out of the game.
Right-hander Ryan Selmer, who didn’t allow a runner on base in 3.1 relief innings Wednesday, entered the contest a Shawaryn facing a 3-0 deficit. But it wouldn’t take long before he gave up his first run, as Lee took him deep for a solo shot in the fifth.
The sophomore allowed two more runs in the sixth off catcher JJ Woodard’s single, and the Panthers added insurance in the seventh off catcher Justin Morris’ error.
Left fielder Marty Costes put the Terps on the board later in the sixth when he hit his fourth home run of the year.
It didn’t matter, though, as Shawaryn put his team in an early hole and the offense couldn’t work out of it.
“The whole game was a debacle for us,” Szefc said. “When you’re .500, there’s a reason why. You’re not consistent. This is a good example of kind of what our season’s been unfortunately.”
Szefc said Shawaryn’s inability to command the zone in his past two starts has led to his inconsistency – he allowed five runs over five innings last week against Iowa.
The fourth-year coach said the Carneys Point, New Jersey, native has been great at staying composed in pressure situations throughout his career, but recently he hasn’t been able to recover when he’s gotten into trouble.
Last season, Shawaryn held a 13-2 record, but he eclipsed that loss total with his third loss Friday in just his seventh start. While the Terps’ other weekend starters have thrived, Szefc’s team has lost three consecutive games with Shawaryn pitching.
“That’s certainly not what Mike has been throughout his career,” Szefc said. “Everybody that’s seen him would tell you that. Right now he’s struggling, and hopefully he can snap out of it. He needs to do it for himself and certainly for us.
