Not a single Terp broke eye contact with Matt Swope in Maryland baseball’s dugout after its 5-2 loss to UMBC on Tuesday night.
As the few Retrievers fans who made the trip to College Park cheered from the bleachers, Maryland’s coach addressed his team while standing on top of a bench.
Maryland had won 15 straight games against UMBC over the past 17 years, but lost its second consecutive midweek game to the Retrievers on Tuesday. UMBC was ranked No. 282 of 307 Division I teams in RPI ahead of the meeting.
“Probably in 13 years [of coaching at Maryland], this is rock bottom,” Swope said he told the team. “There’s no other way of putting it.”
The loss dropped the Terps below .500 with 26 games left. Their at-large NCAA tournament hopes are all but gone, meaning they will likely have to win the Big Ten tournament to play a regional.
Swope’s second season has been a disappointment despite a talented roster. Inconsistent hitting — although the coach disagreed with that notion — and pitching has defined the Terps’ struggles. Tuesday was only the latest example.
“It’s not the standard. It’s not good enough,” Swope said. “Said that a few times this year, but it’s pretty embarrassing overall.”
[Maryland baseball’s season kept skidding in series loss to Northwestern]
Maryland ended its series against Northwestern with a 22-11 win, but managed just two runs on five hits against UMBC. The Terps’ pitching, which posted an 11.63 ERA in the series against Northwestern, improved Tuesday but still fell short.
Swope offered no explanation for the team’s erratic play. Maryland’s nine runs a game ranks third in the Big Ten, but its 6.33 ERA is the conference’s fourth worst.
First-time head coaches often struggle. Former Terps coach Rob Vaughn went 53-59 in his first two seasons but led Maryland to host its first NCAA Regional five years later. Vaughn inherited a team that made the NCAA tournament three out of four years before his hiring.
Swope’s 34 wins last season were the most by a first-year Maryland coach. He’s recruited top local talent, including Maryland’s last two Gatorade Players of the Year, and flipped now-sophomore shortstop Chris Hacopian’s commitment from Wake Forest in 2023.
Still, he’s shouldered the blame.
“If I didn’t think we were any good, I wouldn’t take it as hard,” Swope said after Saturday’s 18-8 loss to Northwestern. “But something’s amiss, and I got to take full responsibility for that.”
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After last Saturday’s series-clinching loss to the Wildcats, Swope said the team was no longer discussing winning series — only focusing on the game at hand. His words echoed previous comments emphasizing that mentality.
With seven conference series left, the Terps are on the brink of missing the Big Ten tournament for the second straight year under Swope. This weekend’s series against Illinois is a battle of two teams who could potentially fight for the final postseason spots.
But also on Saturday, he spoke about pride, self-motivation and humility. Regardless of the outcome, Swope wants his team to compete.
The 44-year-old played for the Terps all four years of college, watched their rise while climbing its coaching staff and ultimately landed what he calls his dream job.
Swope doesn’t just want to preserve the program’s early success this decade — he also wants to uphold the values that he holds close to him.
“As long as I’m coaching here, no matter what anybody likes or dislikes is, we’re going to play hard,” Swope said. “I want to put the nine guys out there that play really hard, and I can promise you that, but nothing else.”
