Welcome back to The Diamondback Sports Digest. Every week, we send you a rundown of the latest Maryland athletics news.
For the second week in a row, a Maryland lacrosse team reached the Big Ten tournament championship. And once again, the Terps fell in the title game.
In this week’s newsletter, we’ll recap the Big Ten men’s lacrosse championship, Maryland baseball’s first series win and a five-star basketball recruit committing to men’s basketball.
Men’s lacrosse loses in Big Ten tournament final
Coach John Tillman’s stout defense delivered an uncharacteristically sloppy showing on Saturday, spotting No. 5 Ohio State a five-goal lead by the end of the first quarter. The slow start doomed No. 3 Maryland to a 14-10 loss in the conference final and extended its tournament title drought to three years.
It was a far cry from the two schools’ meeting earlier this season, when Maryland broke an 11-game Buckeyes’ win-streak and built a six-goal lead at halftime.
“[Ohio State] just came out with a lot of emotion,” Tillman said. “You dig yourself a hole that deep, it definitely makes it hard.”
Both Maryland lacrosse teams fell in the conference finals this season with coach Cathy Reese’s squad’s loss 8-7 to Northwestern on April 27.
Baseball avenges 2024 Penn State loss
Penn State abruptly ended Maryland baseball’s postseason hopes in 2024, sweeping the Terps in College Park to close the regular season. That loss sparked a significant skid for coach Matt Swope’s team, which dropped nine straight weekend series against to open 2025.
After a Friday night win, the Terps snapped that streak on Saturday and outlasted the Nittany Lions in 11 innings for a 12-11 win and their first series victory in nearly a year.
“I know we don’t have much time left, but this is a good time to get over the hump and to try to see if we can string something together,” coach Matt Swope said.
Men’s basketball adds a 5-star recruit
Buzz Williams was left with an empty roster since he was announced as Maryland men’s basketball’s head coach on April 1. Since then, he’s added eight transfers and on Tuesday, earned his first high school commit.
Darius Adams is a composite five-star combo guard prospect and comes from La Lumiere School in Indiana. The incoming freshman shot 32 percent from three and 59 percent from the free throw line while averaging 15 points a game on the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League circuit, according to 247Sports.
247Sports scouting director Adam Finkelstein called Adams a “multi-dimensional scoring threat who can make threes and mid-range pull-ups in a variety of different ways.”
Best Bits
- Coach Matt Swope has used sound therapy as a mental reset for Maryland baseball players amid a difficult season.
- Six Maryland football players were selected in the 2025 NFL draft, a number that doesn’t match its on-field struggles.
- Maryland softball capped its underwhelming 2025 campaign with a 9-1 loss to Nebraska — the team’s 16th straight defeat in Big Ten play.
- Coach Cathy Reese still praised her team’s resilience after Maryland women’s lacrosse blew a four-goal lead in the Big Ten tournament final.
Stat of the week
Maryland softball’s season-ending loss to Nebraska on Sunday marked its 11th mercy rule defeat of the 2025 season.
Quote of the week
“We wouldn’t win a series any other way,” Swope said after Maryland baseball snapped its nine series losing streak with an 11-inning thriller. “I don’t think it was going to be easy the way that this season’s been going.”
