Welcome to The Diamondback Sports Digest. Every week, we send you a rundown of the latest Maryland athletics news.
Two Maryland squads saw major streaks end in an underwhelming start to the month.
In this week’s newsletter, we’ll dive into rough stretches for Maryland baseball and women’s lacrosse, Maryland men’s basketball’s offseason and a player searching for a comeback after missing this season with an injury.
Maryland baseball’s Big Ten dominance ends
Maryland hadn’t lost a Big Ten weekend set since April 2021 heading into Matt Swope’s first year as head coach.
Swope’s squad won its first conference series against Michigan State last month, extending a 23-series long streak. That came to an end when the Terps dropped two of three against Michigan in Ann Arbor.
They returned home this past weekend to battle Indiana, but their struggles persisted, particularly on the mound. Maryland’s pitchers allowed a whopping 29 runs in a pair of losses to start the weekend, marking six straight games where the Terps allowed at least nine runs.
Maryland got back in the win column on Sunday thanks to a Kevin Keister walk-off single, marking the team’s 13th comeback win of an up-and-down season.
Kevin Keister walks it off to give Maryland a 6-5 victory. The Terps’ captain squeezed it through five infielders.
The Terps close the week 2-2. pic.twitter.com/PDpWoT9iIQ
— Michael Howes (@Mikephowes) April 7, 2024
Maryland women’s lacrosse hits midseason rough patch
In its first game since earning the No. 1 ranking, Maryland fell to then-No. 14 Penn on March 27.
The Terps bounced back to win at then-No. 2 Michigan, but Cathy Reese’s squad dropped to the second spot in the national rankings.
The newly top-ranked team and Maryland’s biggest rival, Northwestern, came to College Park this weekend. The Wildcats’ offense proved to be too much for Maryland’s lock-down defense in a 17-9 loss.
With losses in two of its last three contests, the Terps have another Big Ten matchup brewing. They’ll travel to play in-state rival Johns Hopkins on Wednesday.
Maryland men’s basketball picks up two transfers
Maryland lacked depth last season in large part due to a poor transfer cycle. The Terps are now losing two of their three highest scorers in Jahmir Young and Donta Scott. Kevin Willard’s squad has their work cut out to build a new-look roster that can rebound from its second losing season in 30 years.
One player Maryland fans didn’t get to see last year was Loyola Marymount transfer Chance Stephens, who could have been a much-needed sharpshooter for Willard’s squad. Men’s basketball reporter Nicky Wolcott spoke with Stephens, who touched on how he spent his season away and what fans can expect from him next year.
In other basketball news, transfer guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Rodney Rice officially signed with the Terps this week, marking a strong start to Willard’s offseason. The coach has two scholarship slots left to fill in a transfer cycle that could end up shaping his program’s season and future.
Best bits
• Maryland football enters spring practice with a ‘wide-open’ quarterback competition to begin the post-Taulia Tagovailoa era.
• Five star Maryland men’s basketball recruit Derik Queen took home co-MVP honors in the McDonald’s All-American Game on Tuesday. Deputy sports editor Harrison Rich broke down his performance on both sides of the ball.
• Maryland women’s basketball lost one of its most promising young talents in former five-star recruit Riley Nelson, as well as one of its most experienced leaders, Faith Masonius, to the transfer portal.
• Maryland men’s lacrosse won its second straight game with an 8-7 win over Ohio State on Saturday despite a lackluster offensive performance.
• Maryland gymnastics ended its season with a third-place finish in the NCAA regionals, but graduate student Emma Silberman earned a career-high 9.950 on vault in the final routine of her career.
Stat of the week
Maryland women’s lacrosse dropped its first-ever home conference game under coach Cathy Reese — who’s led the Terps for 18 years — with its loss to No. 1 Northwestern on Saturday.
Quote of the week
“Kenny’s got to be better, it’s as simple as that,” Matt Swope said Friday after Maryland baseball’s loss to Indiana. “A Friday night guy, we got to have a better start … we don’t really have another option in this transition year.”
