Maryland baseball heads to Northwestern for weekend series

After a brutal two games in the midweek against Georgetown and UMBC, Maryland Baseball continues conference play this weekend with a three-game series in Evanston, Illinois against the Northwestern Wildcats: Here’s a look at a preview of the weekend:

Where We Are:

Maryland

The Terps took two really tough losses in the midweek, and are 20-12 overall. Despite their good overall record, they are 4-5 in Big Ten play. They will need a good weekend against a Northwestern team that has struggled mightily this season, and a series loss could be very detrimental for Maryland’s tournament hopes. Maryland is 40th in RPI coming into the weekend.

Northwestern

As mentioned, it has been a season to forget for the Wildcats in their first campaign without Jim Foster, who was fired after the 2023 season and was accused of creating a toxic atmosphere. Northwestern is 10-19 overall and 0-6 in Big Ten play. The Wildcats have also lost 10 games in a row, and most recently were thrashed at home on Tuesday by Illinois-Chicago, 18-5 in just seven innings. Northwestern is currently ranked 105th in RPI.

Series Schedule:

Friday: 4:00 – Kenny Lippman (1-3, 6.06 ERA) vs Nolan Morr (1-3, 6.00 ERA)

Kenny Lippman’s good start to the season seems to be a distant memory. Despite him being able to get through six innings against Indiana last week, he gave up six runs on eight hits while walking three. It was the fifth consecutive start Lippman has given up at least three runs, and third time in the last four starts giving up give runs. His 2.93 ERA on March has since climbed four runs.

A senior from Colebrook Connecticut, Morr has struggled in his last two starts pitching less than two innings per outing, and allowing a combined 14 runs to Penn State and UIC. Morr’s best outing of the season came back in February when allowed two over seven innings against Duke.

Saturday: 2:00 – Logan Koester (4-3, 5.36 ERA) vs TBD

Koester has hit a bit of a bump in the road over the last two weeks allowing a combined 14 runs on 13 hits against Michigan and Indiana. Other than those two starts, he has an ERA of 2.72. Koester has shown he is capable of pitching deep into ball games and has a good opportunity to get back on track this weekend.

Northwestern has not announced a Saturday starter.

Sunday: 2:00 – Joey McMannis (0-0, 3.38 ERA) vs TBD

Very quietly, Joey McMannis is having a nice freshman season for Maryland. He has yet to make an outing allowing three or more runs and has kept the Terps offense in every game he has pitched this season. Most recently, he cooled off a red-hot Indiana offense allowing just one solo home-run over five and two thirds innings. McMannis has averaged two runs allowed to BIg Ten opponents over his three starts.

Northwestern has not announced a Sunday starter.

Hitters to Watch

Maryland

Despite a lackluster showing on Wednesday, several Terps had big days on Tuesday. Sam Hojnar had two, three-run home runs against Georgetown, while Chris Hacopian homered as well. Hojnar’s 12 doubles currently ranks him fifth in the conference, and his 38 RBIs rank fourth. Eddie Hacopian had four hits across the two midweek games and scored three runs on Tuesday, as well. The Terps continue to be impacted significantly by a bevy of freshmen such as Chris Hacopian, Brayden Martin, and Jordan Crosland. Additionally, Alex Calarco will be playing against his former team this weekend.

Northwestern

The Wildcats are led by junior Bennett Markinson. Markinson is hitting .336 with three home runs and and 22 knocked in. Another name to watch for is Owen McFlfatrick. The Tampa native leads the Wildcats in runs and total bases, and is tired for the team lead in hits with Markinson. Joshua Freeman is the team leader in home runs, runs, and OPS.

All three games can be streamed on Big Ten Plus. All Maryland Baseball games are free to listen to on the Maryland Baseball Network.

Maryland baseball heads to Northwestern for weekend series

benreitman