Matt Swope stood in the third base coaches box Tuesday night while Maryland baseball took the offensive against Mount St. Mary’s. He sported a red Maryland sweatshirt and a hat of the same color.

It was the same spot Swope anchored at Bob Smith Stadium in previous seasons. He wore what he always has. But this time, it was in a different role.

Tuesday marked Swope’s first game at Bob Smith Stadium since being named head coach of Maryland the past summer. He watched his team claim a commanding 14-3 win over the Mountaineers in the Terps’ home opener to start the season with three wins in their first four contests.

“I did try to take a minute to just take it all in during the national anthem which was nice,” Swope said. “Just happy to be home and happy to get a win.”

Assistant coaches Jimmy Jackson and Johnny Poss also made their Maryland home debuts Tuesday. Poss serves as the first base coach, a spot once held by former assistant coach Anthony Papio. Jackson is the Terps’ new pitching coach after the departure of Mike Morrison.

Jackson worked with Tuesday’s starter Ryan Van Buren over the offseason to add later movement to his pitches to compliment his four-pitch arsenal.

[Chris Hacopian led Maryland baseball’s newcomers in season-opening series]

In the junior right hander’s first chance to display his new repertoire, he completed 5 2/3 innings and allowed just one earned run while adding four strikeouts.

Change wasn’t limited to just the coaching staff. Swope’s first roster is littered with newcomers after only 12 players returned from last season. They made their impact early in their first home game.

Freshman Chris Hacopian drove in the Terps’ first run — his older brother, Eddie — with an RBI double into left field. Transfer second baseman Sam Hojnar continued the scoring with an RBI double of his own in the next plate appearance.

Fellow transfer Alex Calarco followed Hojnar’s at-bat with a sacrifice fly to add another run before freshman Brayden Martin capped off the explosive first inning with a three-run double. Maryland led 6-0 through just the opening frame.

Right hander Omar Melendez added five strikeouts in three innings of relief and allowed one run. The Alabama State transfer recorded a 12-0 record last season with a 2.52 ERA and could be a fixture in the Terps bullpen this season.

[Maryland baseball overcomes three-run hole to beat Georgia Southern, 5-4, in season opener]

Senior Kevin Keister headlines Maryland’s returning group this season. The shortstop, who was named team captain and given the No. 3 jersey, scored in the first off Hojnar’s double and again in the eighth off Hojnar’s single.

The jersey number is a tradition Swope will continue from the previous staff. To him, it symbolizes the three pillars of Maryland baseball: ownership, toughness and growth mindset. Swope, who rose through the ranks of Maryland’s coaching staff over the past 11 years, wanted to continue that integral piece that was a constant with the program as it rose to prominence.

“I just take a lot of pride in the hard work that I’ve already put in here from being with those [previous] guys,” Swope said earlier this month. “It’s not just because you become a head coach that these things are going to change … it means a lot to me.”

Elijah Lambros added to the scoring in the fifth inning with an RBI double, the centerfielder’s third RBI of the early season and one of Maryland’s five extra-base hits of the game. The Terps added a six-run eighth inning, punctuated by a Devin Russell three-run homer.

“It’s always good to get the first one out of the way and when the lights went off it was a real feeling that was good,” Russell said after his first career home run.

Mount St. Mary’s found its first score in the third inning on a Josh Braxton sacrifice fly. Stephen Katch scored a run in the sixth and Ty Fredo added a solo home run in the ninth, but they did little to erase the advantage Maryland mounted in the early innings.

Most of the Terps’ season opener was similar to previous seasons. The same Star Wars music played over starting lineup introductions — the Imperial March for the opponent and the Main Title for the home team. Only what public address announcer Matt Noble exclaimed at the end to unofficially open the new coach’s tenure was different from years past.

“And the head coach of your Terrapins,” Noble said, “in his first season, Matt Swope.”