Maryland announced its full 2026 schedule on Friday. The slate features 32 true road games, 22 matchups at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium and a lone neutral-site contest — a type of split that’s become common for the Terps in recent years.

Early tests

Maryland’s struggles in the Big Ten during Swope’s time have overshadowed its respectable 39-19 record in non-conference play. The Terps will play several series against astute mid-majors and a handful of midweeks versus power-conference opponents this season.

The Terps open the year with a three–game series at UNC Wilmington from Feb. 13-15. The Seahawks have been a top-two finisher in the Coastal Athletic Association in each of the past three seasons — earning two NCAA regional berths during that time. A midweek against Georgetown on Feb. 17 marks Maryland’s home opener. The Terps are also slated to face the Hoyas at Capital One Park on a Tuesday in late April, continuing the pair’s unofficial tradition of playing multiple times a season over the past four years.

[Maryland baseball star Chris Hacopian to enter transfer portal]

Maryland’s first home series of the year is against Wagner, which is flanked by weekend road trips to Louisiana and Troy, two esteemed mid-majors.

The Ragin’ Cajuns finished with a losing record last year but made three consecutive regionals in the seasons before. Troy won more than 35 games in each of the last three seasons. It had an NCAA tournament appearance over that stretch.

Maryland then takes its first trip to Morgantown since 2018, for a midweek against West Virginia. It’s a Mountaineers squad who reached a super regional last season, where they lost to eventual national champions LSU.

The Terps didn’t play a single midweek against a power-conference team in Swope’s first season as manager. Matchups against Virginia and the Mountaineers reflect Swope’s efforts to schedule more resume-building midweeks.

Big Ten play

That Mar. 10 matchup directly predates the Terps’ conference slate, which begins with a home series against Purdue. The weekend after, Maryland will play the potential top team in the country: UCLA.

Baseball America ranked the Bruins as the No. 1 team in its “Way Too Early Top 25 Rankings” for the 2026 season. UCLA was the only Big Ten team to feature on that list, largely because it’s returning nearly every significant contributor from last year’s College World Series squad — including potential No. 1 overall draft pick Roch Cholowsky.

In a March full of tough opponents, Maryland hosts USC in its final series of the month. It’ll be the first-ever meeting between the Terps and Trojans, after the latter made an NCAA tournament appearance last season.

[Maryland baseball falls to Rutgers, 6-4, slimming its odds of a Big Ten tournament berth]

Maryland is set to play many road games in April.

The Terps travel to Ohio State, Iowa and Michigan State — the latter two being Big Ten tournament teams from a year ago. April also features road midweeks against UMBC and Navy on back-to-back days, Maryland’s only instance of that in 2026.

A conference-heavy May includes just one midweek and three series, all against Big Ten tournament teams from a year ago. The first is a set against Michigan at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium. The Terps then travel to Rutgers before ending the regular season at home against Penn State from May 14-16.

Maryland’s postseason chances have come down to the final weekend of the season in each of the past two campaigns. It fell short both times.

For a Terps squad with a 22-32 conference record under Swope, simply making the 12-team Big Ten tournament would be progress.

The lingering injury cut his freshman year at Maryland short and sidelined him for all of his sophomore season, leaving questions about his return to the field in 2025.

But McCoy responded with his best season as a Terp. He led Maryland in strikeouts and finished with a 6-3 record as a starter. That campaign earned him a spot in MLB.

Three years after the injury that ended his high school draft dreams, McCoy was drafted by Cincinnati Reds in the eighth round of the MLB Draft with the 234th overall pick in the draft. He is the first draft pick under coach Matt Swope and the 13th Terp drafted in the last five years. 

McCoy finished his Maryland career with a 4.33 ERA, 10-9 record and 110 strikeouts across 29 appearances over two seasons.

“It’s still surreal. Doesn’t really feel real, hasn’t sunk in yet,” McCoy told The Diamondback Tuesday. “I’m just super excited, just super ready to get going and get my feet wet and then kind of let everything play out for the Reds.”

[Kyle McCoy’s lengthy recovery transformed him. He’s ready to be Maryland baseball’s ace.]

McCoy suffered a UCL injury in May of his senior year of high school. The partial tear didn’t require surgery, but the injury still turned off major league clubs ahead of the draft.

The left-hander became a regular starter for Maryland just weeks into his freshman year, but late in the season, the elbow discomfort returned. An MRI revealed the tear had worsened and would require surgery. He tried to pitch through the pain, but lasted less than an inning in a Big Ten Tournament start against Michigan State. 

McCoy finished his freshman year with 15 appearances — including 12 starts — posting a 5.91 ERA over 53 ⅓ innings. He received Tommy John surgery following the season. 

McCoy’s year-long recovery didn’t just rebuild his elbow — it reshaped his entire approach. The time away from the mound forced him to slow down, reset his habits and mature both physically and mentally.

He overhauled his diet, added 20 pounds of muscle and refined his pregame preparation.  He also embraced a leadership role off the field, becoming a vocal presence in Maryland’s clubhouse. 

“I didn’t even feel like it was a setback. I almost felt like it was an opportunity for me to grow,” McCoy said. “I felt like that was a good experience for me to mature and develop, and I was able to take full advantage of that time off.”

McCoy cemented himself as Maryland’s ace in his junior year — starting 14 games with a 3.32 ERA and 71 strikeouts. He earned Third Team All-Big Ten honors for his efforts.

The Reds currently have two left-handed pitchers in their MLB.com top 30 prospects list, with lefty Adam Serwinowski ranked No. 12. The Reds selected four pitchers ahead of McCoy in the draft, all right-handers.

“[The Reds are] getting a serious competitor and a guy who is going to leave it all out there for them and give them everything he has,” McCoy said. “All I’ve ever wanted was an opportunity to showcase my ability. And fortunately, the Reds’ front office gave me an opportunity here to do that.”

Hacopian totaled 29 home runs and 103 RBIs in his two seasons at Maryland. He was an All-Big Ten second team honoree both years.

The rising junior has been projected as high as a potential top-10 pick in the 2026 MLB draft. Hacopian was expected to be the Terps’ most established returning hitter entering his first draft-eligible season.

Hacopian did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The shortstop flipped his commitment from Wake Forest to Maryland in 2023 to play for coach Matt Swope and with his older brother, Eddie. Their father, Derek, also played for the Terps in 1992 and was the ACC Player of the Year. 

[‘He’s a psycho’: Chris Hacopian’s drive has him ready to be the face of Maryland baseball]

The younger Hacopian’s departure is a massive blow to a Maryland offense that is losing multiple key contributors to graduation. First baseman Hollis Porter, who led the Terps with 21 home runs, also plans to enter the transfer portal, The Diamondback reported Thursday.

Hacopian batted a team-high .375 this past season with 61 RBIs, the second-best total on the team behind Porter. His .502 on-base percentage was the ninth-best in program history and he tied a program record with six hits at Penn State on May 3.

In his freshman campaign, Hacopian played third base and batted .323, second-best behind his older brother. His 15 home runs were tied for the second-most for a freshman in program history, earning a Big Ten All-Freshman team nod.

Hacopian is the fourth confirmed transfer this offseason, following Porter, Luke Keefer and Dom Moats. 

This story will be updated.

Porter joined the Terps ahead of the 2024 season and led the team with 21 home runs. The 20-year-old is also eligible for the MLB draft after redshirting at Mississippi State in 2023 and playing at Pearl River Community College in 2024.

The first-baseman was a key piece of a Maryland offense that averaged more than eight runs per game. He hit .303 — the third-best average on the team — and was one of four Terps to bat .300 or better. Porter’s 21 home runs ranked third in the Big Ten.

[Seniors lead Maryland baseball to 13-11 win over Rutgers in season finale]

Still, Maryland missed the postseason for the second straight year and finished 14th in the Big Ten.

He’s the third Maryland player to announce transfer plans, joining rising sophomores Luke Keefer and Dom Moats. Keefer did not appear in a game in 2025, while Moats saw limited action.

Porter’s departure is a massive blow to a Maryland team that will already be losing key contributors Alex Calarco, Eddie Hacopian, Jacob Orr and Elijah Lambros. Coach Matt Swope enters his third season after failing to reach the Big Ten tournament in his first two years. He’ll now have to replace another impactful bat ahead of next season.

He got his wish — launching a 383-foot, three-run shot to right-center in his final game. The seventh inning hit was one of three home runs by Maryland seniors. One frame later, Hacopian provided a go-ahead bases-loaded walk.

In a season full of disappointment, the Terps ended on a high note for the 10 players honored, defeating Rutgers, 13-11, on Saturday.

For Hacopian, a collegiate career at Maryland was never guaranteed. He spent two years at a California junior college before transferring east, following in his father’s footsteps by joining the Terps — and ultimately sharing the field with his younger brother Chris in his final two seasons.

“He’s just selfless,” coach Matt Swope said. “Nobody recruited him out of high school, he bet on himself at a JUCO in California, and earned everything he’s gotten. Those are the stories that make college sports great.”

The Terps’ captain finished his career with 175 starts and 144 RBI  — playing in every game over three seasons at first, second, third and left field.

Catcher Alex Calarco and center fielder Elijah Lambros both hit homers in the win as well — two players that transferred to Maryland and became mainstays in the lineup following their arrival.

[Maryland baseball falls to Rutgers, 6-4, slimming its odds of a Big Ten tournament berth]

Seniors Jacob Orr, Andrew Johnson and Ryan Van Buren were also among the group honored — the only players who remain from the 2022 team that hosted the College Park Regional.

“Some of these guys have been here for some of the best seasons in school history,” Swope said Saturday. “Hopefully the adversity that they’ve gone through this year will help them or propel them in a way.”

Another postseason-less ending

While Maryland’s loss on Friday officially ended their postseason hopes, their playoff fate was largely decided before then.

It was the season-long issues that stopped Maryland from attending Omaha for a second straight year — an inconsistent offense, the absence of a reliable closer and starting rotation struggles beyond ace Kyle McCoy.

The Terps’ erratic bats resurfaced in their season-ending losses Thursday and Friday. After averaging eight runs per game during a 6-1 stretch entering the weekend series, they matched their lowest output from that span in two must-win contests.

Their struggles with runners on — a recurring issue — culminated in a 2-for-20 performance with runners in scoring position.

“I know we’ve hit some grand slams, but my goodness, we really struggled to get the big hit this year,” Swope said after Saturday’s 9-4 loss.

In what could be his final outing at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium, McCoy had one of his roughest starts of the year on Friday, allowing six runs across the third and fourth innings.

He still finished the year with a team-best 3.32 ERA.

“I think we’ve let him down plenty this season,” Swope said. “On a lot of those Fridays, the season would have been different if we would have been able to close some of those out.”

After McCoy, Maryland cycled through the rest of its weekend arms across 13 series. The longest stretch in which the Terps used the same three starters came from March 21 to April 6 — a span of just three weekends. It only happened once more, in a two-series stretch in May.

[A Mother’s Day special: Maryland baseball’s seniors reflect on their moms’ impact]

Swope pointed to sophomore left-hander Evan Smith’s season-ending elbow injury as a major blow. Expected to be a key piece of the rotation, Smith pitched only on opening weekend before going down — and Maryland never fully recovered, Swope said. The coach said that nine different players suffered season-ending injuries.

“This is probably one of the most injury ridden clubs I’ve been a part of in my 12 years since I’ve been here,” Swope said.

But the Terps have now missed the Big Ten tournament in both seasons under Swope. While Maryland reached 34 wins last season, it ended this year with a losing record — its first since 2018.

With a new athletic director arriving in July and pressure mounting, Swope took accountability following Rutgers’ win on Saturday. Maryland baseball’s standard is different from when Swope once played in College Park 20 seasons ago – the program was expected to build on two straight Big Ten titles and three straight NCAA Regional appearances to open the decade.

That hasn’t been the case to start his tenure as head coach, a reality he acknowledged.

“I feel like I’ve let people down, and that’s on me,” Swope said after Saturday’s loss. “There isn’t going to be anybody that’s going to be harder on anybody than myself. We just got to be better.”

Sound familiar?

Last year, the Terps had to beat Penn State in their final series to clinch a Big Ten tournament berth. Instead, they were swept at home. This year, their easiest path to Omaha involved a sweep of Rutgers, along with some outside help.

Thursday’s series opener made that path tougher. Maryland fell to Rutgers, 6-4, and now sits on the brink of another season-ending disappointment at home. While there’s still life left for the Terps, they need all the remaining cards to fall their way.

“We have a mathematical chance with some teams losing, but you need stuff to go your way,” coach Matt Swope said. “Sad that we put it in that hand just because I think it’s a game we could’ve won.”

Maryland must win its remaining two games against the Scarlet Knights. It’ll also need Northwestern to be swept and Michigan State to lose one of its next two games.

The Terps averaged eight runs across their last seven games entering this series, scoring fewer than seven just once — an 8-4 loss to Penn State May 4. They scored the same amount on Thursday despite recording 13 hits compared to Rutgers’ 11.

[UMD names James E. Smith as new Maryland athletic director]

But Maryland also stranded 14 batters to Rutgers’ seven. Situational hitting, a common struggle this season, reappeared with the Terps batting 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

“We just got to be able to push through in a couple of those moments, and you can win the game,” Swope said. “But it just wasn’t good enough, as simple as that.”

It didn’t help that redshirt sophomore right-hander Brayden Ryan spotted Rutgers four runs in the second inning and buried Maryland into a three-run hole.

Rutgers catcher Matt Chatelle and right fielder Trevor Cohen both nailed RBI singles, while left fielder RJ Johnson lofted a 385-foot, two-run homer to center field. It was the last frame for Ryan, who limited the Scarlet Knights to one baserunner in the first.

Freshman Logan Hastings pitched the next five innings, and Maryland trimmed its deficit to one behind a solo homer from sophomore Chris Hacopian and an RBI single by senior Jacob Orr in the fifth. But the Scarlet Knights rebuilt their lead, as Chatelle added an RBI single in the sixth and Cohen launched a solo homer in the eighth.

The Terps added a run in the eighth with an Aden Hill solo homer, but left three runners on base. They loaded the bases again in the ninth with two outs, but senior Elijah Lambros watched strike three fly past him for the game’s final out.

“Really, they were able to get a few big hits, and we just weren’t,” Swope said. “It kind of just seemed like that pretty much sums up a lot of the season.”

Senior Eddie Hacopian said the team was competing with a different level of belief over the past two weeks. It underscored calls from Swope that they’d treat each of their remaining games as if it was Game 7 of the World Series.

There is still a slim opportunity. There was also that chance last year when Maryland got swept to conclude Swope’s first season.

The Terps will fight in hopes that his second year doesn’t end the same way.

The Terps followed Friday’s win with a series-clinching 8-5 victory on Saturday, then capped the weekend with something they hadn’t done in over two years: sweep a conference opponent.

Maryland’s 11-10 win over Minnesota on Mother’s Day extended its win streak to four games and marked its sixth victory in its last seven contests. It’s taken nearly the entire season for the Terps to find their rhythm, but with one series left, they’re suddenly hovering around postseason contention.

“It’s nice to kind of get on a roll here at the end of the season when you need it the most,” coach Matt Swope said.

The Terps opened the game with a familiar formula fueling their recent surge — striking first. Maryland has scored first in five of its last six wins. Senior Elijah Lambros’s opposite-field single to right drove in two runs in the opening frame.

Even when Minnesota scored two runs in the bottom of the first on Saturday, the Terps responded with a four-run second to earn their first lead — one they never relented.

And contrary to Maryland’s previous wins against Minnesota — which both saw three Terps’ homers — Maryland homered just once in Sunday’s series finale. Eddie Hacopian cracked his ninth home run of the season in the third inning.

[A Mother’s Day special: Maryland baseball’s seniors reflect on their moms’ impacts]

From there, the Terps leaned on small ball to generate their remaining runs. Junior Aden Hill scored on a wild pitch in the fourth, followed by freshman Parker Corbin’s RBI single later in the inning.

Maryland tacked on three more two-run frames in the fifth, sixth and eighth. Paul Jones continued his hot streak with two more RBIs. An RBI groundout and then a double in the eighth inning were the designated hitter’s biggest contributions.

It was the first time this season that Jones started an entire weekend series for the Terps — and he excelled. Highlighted by a three-run homer on Friday night, the Minnesota native batted .400 in his home state while adding six RBIs and three runs.

Fellow freshman Corbin entered the lineup for Sunday’s game after Hollis Porter left Saturday’s game early due to injury. There’s been no update on Porter’s status for the rest of the season, but Corbin batted 2-5 with an RBI in Sunday’s game.

“This is where we’re at with all the injuries and guys got to step up,” Swope said after Saturday’s 8-5 win. “But at this point of the year, they’re not really freshmen anymore either.”

Maryland’s early outburst built an eight-run advantage by the sixth, but it quickly shrank — sparking fears of yet another blown lead. After limiting Minnesota to one run through five innings, senior Omar Melendez gave up back-to-back homers in the sixth and allowed two more runners to reach base.

[Complementary performance leads Maryland baseball to 8-2 win over Minnesota]

Sophomore right-hander Andrew Koshy promptly gave up a three-run homer, cutting the Terps’ lead to two. The Golden Gophers added three more in the eighth, shrinking Maryland’s cushion to just one entering the ninth — but Ryan Van Buren shut the door and earned his second save of the season.

“I’m still coming up for air after that. I don’t think we’d do it any other way — it’s just been how the year’s gone,” Swope said. “At the end of the day … a win is a win.”

The series was the first time since April 30, 2023, that the Terps swept a conference opponent. Maryland won 42 games and won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament.

With just one series remaining, Maryland now sits one game outside a tournament spot at the conclusion of Sunday’s game — with a three-way tie for the 10th through 12th spot between Illinois, Rutgers and Michigan State.

It sets up a massive series against Rutgers next weekend in College Park. Even if the Scarlet Knights win their game against Penn State later today — a sweep next week advances the Terps to the Big Ten tournament in Omaha.

“We’re ultra focused right now,” Hacopian said. “We feel like we can make some noise when we get in that tournament, when we take it to Rutgers this weekend.”

Her nerves were on full display in March, when Andrew Johnson secured two saves in a single day against Princeton and Wake Forest in Winston-Salem. After Maryland’s postgame huddle, she leapt onto the field to give her son a big hug.

“It really gives me the chills, because it was a really big moment,” Andrew Johnson said. “When your mom’s heart is in it, it makes it easier for your heart to be in it.”

Andrew Johnson credited his mom for everything —- from taking off work to watch his games, to making home-cooked chicken fried rice on Maryland’s Monday off-days, to sending him motivational quotes before each game.

Johnson’s bond with his mom is just one of the many ways Maryland’s seniors have been shaped by the women who raised them. As their college careers wind down, several Terps reflected on the sacrifices, traditions and support their mothers have provided — both on and off the field.

“I appreciate everything she’s done for me. I mean, I really can’t even realize it until maybe one day I have kids,” Johnson said. “She’s been the best mother possible. She’s supported me through surgeries, down moments, all that stuff.”

Alex Calarco described his mother, Sheri, as a farm girl from Iowa who married into a love of baseball. She met his father, John, shortly after he wrapped up a professional stint with the Salt Lake City Trappers.

Once Alex Calarco and his brother, Anthony, picked up the game, baseball quickly became a family affair. As John Calarco threw batting practice for his sons in high school, Sheri Calarco tracked down fly balls in the outfield.

[Derek Ohringer continues family legacy as Maryland baseball’s operations director]

Since Alex and his brother began playing, Sheri Calarco has spent plenty of money — and traveled plenty of miles — to support them. She regularly travels from Illinois to College Park to watch Alex play, proudly waving a Maryland flag near the third base line at home games.

When a security guard once told her the flag wasn’t allowed inside an opposing stadium, she quickly found a workaround: she wrapped it around her shoulders like a cape and walked in.

“When things go wrong, I can always just find her in the stands, and she’ll always give me that big smile,” Alex Calarco said. “She’s always just that sunshine in the darkness.”

Missy Hacopian, the mother of Eddie and Chris Hacopian, similarly wasn’t always a baseball fan. That changed when she met her husband, former Maryland standout Derek Hacopian.

Missy was waitressing at a bar in Beloit, Wisconsin, at the time, and began attending Derek’s minor league games with the Beloit Snappers — often watching alongside other players’ wives while she learned the game. Now, she has decades of baseball knowledge with both her sons starring for the Terps.

When Eddie Hacopian went undrafted last summer — a draft he felt confident he’d be selected in — he said his mom was there for him as he processed the disappointment.

“Her words of encouragement and just being there for me in a tough time was the most important thing I could have had,” Eddie Hacopian said. “She told me, ‘Look at where you were three years ago and look where you are now. Who would have thought you’d have this opportunity?’”

Ryan Van Buren’s mom, Tina, was already a diehard Philadelphia Phillies fan before he was born — just like the rest of their family. Van Buren often spent his birthdays at Phillies games, where his name would appear on the jumbotron’s birthday display.

When deciding where to go to school, Maryland’s three-hour commute from Philadelphia was a main factor. Van Buren said his parents come to every home series and the away series that are a reasonable distance.

[Maryland’s baseball’s first series win in nearly a year provides hope for the rest of 2025]

“Growing up, she’d always play sports with me. She had me playing every sport out there,” Van Buren said. “I think that just kind of drove me that I ended up liking baseball the best and she helped me get to where I am today.”

Growing up in Puerto Rico, Omar Melendez’s mother, Vilmarie Guilfu, immersed him in baseball at a young age as she took him to watch his father play semi-professional baseball. She’d take him to the field to practice and train.

When Melendez earned a scholarship to play at a high school 40 minutes away during his junior year, Guilfu woke up at 5 a.m. to drive him there — then returned home to take his brother to school.

She’s only watched Melendez pitch collegiately three times — twice at Alabama State and once at Maryland. The Terps’ senior day later this month will mark the fourth. For Melendez, the opportunity for her to watch him one last time collegiately is an ode to all the devotion she’s shown.

“From the distance, she’s still my number one supporter,” Melendez said. “[Her coming to senior day] means all the sacrifices she’s made for me in my life are paying off.”

Even better, the series opener fell on his mother’s birthday — and Jones has a knack for homering on that day.

He kept the tradition alive Friday night at Siebert Field, launching a three-run shot in the sixth inning against Minnesota.

The blast was part of a five-run frame that separated the Terps from the Golden Gophers as Maryland took the first game of a pivotal late conference series, 8-2.

“It was just great for me to be able to do that, having all my family here, especially my mom’s birthday being today,” Jones said. “Being able to give her that for a birthday present was really cool.”

The designated hitter isn’t the only member of his family with Minnesota baseball ties. His grandfather, César Tovar, played for the Minnesota Twins from 1965 to 1972 and was inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Fame in 2022.

Jones has emerged as an option for Maryland’s ninth spot and designated hitter late in the season, starting five of the last 11 games. Friday’s homer was his second of the year; he’s batting .250 with nine RBIs.

“Really happy for him in his hometown and having his family here, and I know that felt good,” head coach Matt Swope said. “He couldn’t help but smile coming around the bases.”

[Maryland’s baseball’s first series win in nearly a year provides hope for the rest of 2025]

Swope has repeatedly said Maryland baseball will treat each of its remaining games like a Game 7, needing strong performances in its final two conference series — and help from other teams — to keep its postseason hopes alive.

The Terps seemed to take that message to heart, following Wednesday’s extra-innings win over James Madison with Friday’s win at Minnesota. His team played complementary baseball — Kyle McCoy pitched seven innings, Ryan Van Buren produced a strong relief outing and the Terps brought home eight runs.

Chris Hacopian opened the game with a two-run homer in the first inning. The sophomore shortstop had a long ball drought that lasted 25 games between March 9 and April 18 but has recorded six in the last 12 games.

He batted .642 with five RBIs in Maryland’s series win at Penn State last weekend — a performance Swope called pivotal in securing the Terps’ first series victory of the season.

“He’s finally getting that bit extra slug. He’s starting to drive the ball a little bit better,” Swope said. “If he’s slugging a little bit, it’s gonna make us tough to beat down the stretch.”

First baseman Hollis Porter kept the offense rolling with an RBI groundout in the third, then sparked Maryland’s sixth-inning surge with his team-leading 21st homer. Aden Hill followed with a sacrifice bunt to bring in another run before Jones’ three-run shot gave the Terps a six-run cushion.

The eight-run performance supported a 106-pitch outing from McCoy — tied for the second-most he’s thrown this season. It wasn’t the ace’s cleanest start, as he allowed a season-high 10 hits and one walk, but the redshirt sophomore minimized damage when it mattered. A two-run single in the fourth marked the only run-scoring hit against the lefty.

[Derek Ohringer continues family legacy as Maryland baseball’s operations director]

“Definitely don’t think it was my A-plus stuff today,” McCoy said. “But I was just making sure I was getting weak contact and kind of letting my defense do the work.”

While the Terps’ bats built a larger lead than in last Friday’s start in University Park, Maryland received another adequate performance from the bullpen — a rarity this season. Senior Ryan Van Buren tossed two scoreless innings to close the game, allowing just one hit.

Van Buren has struggled this season, posting a 7.11 ERA and allowing at least one run in 12 of his 13 previous appearances — with his only other scoreless outing coming in the season opener against UAB.

But the Terps will hope the right-hander can build on the outing over the final five games. Van Buren’s 62 career appearances are the most on Maryland’s staff, and he started the Terps’ 2023 Big Ten title game win over Nebraska.

With every game now a must-win, the senior’s experience could prove valuable for a pitching staff that’s seen its veterans struggle.

The Big Ten Picture

Even if the Terps win out, they’ll still need help from around the conference to clinch a Big Ten Tournament spot.

Friday’s win moved Maryland into a tie for 14th with Purdue. Nebraska pulled even with Rutgers for 10th at 12-13 following Rutgers’ loss to Penn State, while Northwestern boosted its postseason hopes with a 12-2 rout of Ohio State — maintaining a two-game cushion over Maryland for the final tournament berth.

Michigan State, sitting in 13th place, hadn’t finished its game against USC by the end of Maryland’s Friday night opener.

A forgettable season for the Terps may still end in a postseason appearance after victories against Penn State in University Park prolonged its chances at a Big Ten tournament spot. The team now stands two games behind Michigan State, the 12th-ranked team in the conference, with six conference games remaining.

“I know we don’t have much time left, but this is a good time to get over the hump and try to see if we can string something together,” coach Matt Swope said after Saturday’s win.

The Terps put together one of their more complete performances of the year in the series opener with ace Kyle McCoy on the mound. Maryland’s bats gave him and the bullpen cushion with an explosive, two-homer first inning — the first of seven runs against the Nittany Lions.

Freshman Logan Hastings entered the game in the seventh with a four-run lead, and quickly seemed like he would rehash Maryland’s late-game struggles.

[Derek Ohringer continues family legacy as Maryland baseball’s operations director]

Hastings allowed two baserunners before coaxing flyouts to end the frame. He continued to have command issues in the eighth and ninth, walking batters in both, but held on to the Terps’ lead to pick up his second save of the season.

Hastings’ performance bucked the bullpen’s season-long trend of blowing leads.

McCoy pitched six innings with no earned runs against Western Carolina in February before the bullpen imploded in the seventh, surrendering five runs. In March, the lefty exited Maryland’s opener against UCLA with a four-run lead, but the Bruins stormed back to outscore the Terps 11-1 and hand them a 10-inning loss.

Later that month, the bullpen and offense faltered late in the opener against Northwestern, allowing three unanswered runs in the ninth and 10th. Against Indiana in April, it was a blown five-run lead.

“Kyle’s been an ace all year,” Swope said. “I think he’d be in the running for conference pitcher of the year if we could close some of these out.”

In game two against Penn State, Maryland’s offense didn’t have the luxury of a quality start or stability from the bullpen.

[Maryland baseball uses early scoring surge to beat Penn State, 7-4]

Sophomore Joey McMannis gave up five runs and three walks to only one strikeout in four innings, but Maryland’s bats produced six runs to hold a lead. Relievers Ryan Van Buren and Cristofer Cespedes allowed two runs each to put Maryland at a two-run deficit entering the ninth.

This time, the Terps offense shook off year-long late-game lumps.

After scoring one extra-innings run in three games, Maryland notched three runs in the 10th and 11th frames Saturday. Sophomore Brayden Martin hit a game-winning solo homer — only the third of his career —  in the top of the 11th, a rare clutch swing which helped Maryland overcome pitching struggles.

“[I] kinda just blacked out,” Martin said. “We showed a lot of perseverance in that game.”

The Terps failed to secure the sweep on Sunday, but still claimed the Big Ten series win they desperately needed and avenged last season’s crushing series loss to Penn State.

The Nittany Lions swept Maryland in 2024’s final series and ended the Terps’ postseason chances, including an extra-innings loss where Maryland’s bats fell silent. With the past weekend’s pair of wins, the Terps snapped a 10-series skid and extra-innings losing streak that began and ended against Penn State.

Rather than their postseason chances ending again in a series against Penn State, this year’s meeting brought new hope.