After Maryland baseball second baseman Nick Dunn doubled against William & Mary on Tuesday, he bent down, faced the dugout and rotated one arm around the other, mimicking the characters in Fortnite: Battle Royale, the team’s favorite video game.
When the Terps first started the post-double tradition in their season-opening series against Tennessee, coach Rob Vaughn thought it was a dance move. His bench informed him it was the motion avatars from the popular online survival-based game use when applying bandages. He liked the community aspect of the display.
Amid a season in which the Terps are 14-15 and hitting just .228, bonding over Fortnite has provided a positive outlet.
“That was just one of the things that we thought kind of symbolized our offense healing back up or kind of getting things going,” left fielder Will Watson said. “You gotta pay attention equally on Fortnite as you would on the baseball field.”
Nick Dunn hit a leadoff double in the seventh and later scored in the frame during Maryland baseball’s 6-3 defeat to William & Mary on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/FZCYt09Gpr
— Andy Kostka (@afkostka) April 5, 2018
The Fortnite craze began during winter break, when first baseman Kevin Biondic and catcher Justin Morris started playing it. They called themselves the “Bush Gang,” hiding in bushes throughout the map to pick off unsuspecting players. Now, as more adept players, they’ve adopted more aggressive strategies.
Pretty soon, Biondic said, it felt like the whole team was online with them. The competition was intense.
[Read more: Maryland baseball’s Mark DiLuia impressed vs. William & Mary amid frustrating year]
One time when Biondic was playing with his roommate, right-hander Taylor Bloom, he heard something slam in the room next to his and noticed Bloom’s microphone was muted. Bloom’s character was dead.
“I was trying to put the pieces together while I’m still playing,” Biondic said. “Then I realized that he died, and he rage quit.”
“Bloom is the epic rager,” Watson said. “He throws many controllers. Pitches fits.”
Most of the team plays on PlayStation 4, although Watson and three others run squad games on Xbox One. In the locker room before practices, players tell each other about how they played the night before. Watson said it builds a connection with his teammates because they have to work together to win the game by sharing ammo and helping to revive each other when they’re knocked out.
“All I know is that it’s a combination of Hunger Games and something. I know you drop people in and somebody wins,” Vaughn said. “If they’re together doing stuff, it doesn’t matter whether they’re playing horseshoes, Fortnite, whatever it is.”
[Read more: Bullpen depth costs Maryland baseball in extra-inning 6-3 loss to William & Mary]
Over the past couple of seasons, Dunn has brought a TV onto Maryland’s team bus. Other players pack video game consoles along with their clothes.
Without an internet connection, the Terps often take turns playing NHL or MLB games in the back of the bus. Vaughn has watched them play several times. While Dunn claims he’s the best player, Vaughn said he’s never seen him win a game.
With downtime during road trips, Vaughn often finds his players awake playing Fortnite when he does room checks. At home, they play most nights after practice.
Watson said he hopes Maryland’s offense can improve at the plate this weekend and break out the bandages more often. The Terps left 17 runners on base against the Tribe and have struggled to score consistently throughout the year.
“Sometimes you might be frustrated after the game,” Watson said. “But you can get back on [Fortnite], start talking to your friends and kind of get that sense of relief, just to kind of clear your mind.”