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Maryland baseball looks to rebound in big series vs. Indiana

Writer's picture: Ahmed GhafirAhmed Ghafir

Maryland baseball returns to The Bob this weekend for a three-game series against the Indiana Hoosiers. It's a big series between two teams, which were both picked in the top three of the Big Ten preseason poll and could have seeding implications in the Big Ten Tournament. Maryland comes in with an RPI of 30, while Indiana is at 88. Here's a look at the weekend ahead: Where We Are: Indiana After starting the season in the top 25, it has not been the season people in Bloomington expected. The Hoosiers are 16-14 and lost their only Big Ten series to this point to Illinois. They have played some extremely difficult opponents in non-conference play such as Duke, Coastal Carolina, Alabama, Arizona, and Vanderbilt. Indiana had a good season in 2023 as they finished second in the Big Ten standings and made the NCAA Tournament before losing in the regional final in the Lexington Regional to Kentucky. The Hoosiers took two out of three from Butler at home last weekend. Maryland The Terps are coming off of an ugly, heart-stopping 13-12 win at home Wednesday over UMBC. After taking a 7-0 lead over the Retrievers, the Terps allowed UMBC to tie it 8-8 and the Retrievers took a 12-8 lead on a 7th-inning grand slam by Justin Taylor. The Cardiac Terps clawed and scratched their way back as they scored two in the eighth and then walked it off in the ninth when Sam Hojnar singled to drive home two. It would have been a devastating loss for Maryland's postseason resume, and their first loss to UMBC since 2007, but the Terps found a way to win it. "I think it's a culture thing to be honest," head coach Matt Swope said. "If anybody has been following us for the last three or four years, no lead is safe. We've always had that mantra and the guys truly believe that It can be done throughout the lineup. It's not one person. It's not Matt Shaw, It's not just Chris Hacopian this year. Everybody has contributed over these years. That's what we preach about as an offense is handing it off." The Terps now sit at 21-9 overall on the season, and 3-3 in Big Ten play. Maryland currently sits sixth in the Big Ten standings. Series Schedule: Friday, 6:00 PM: Ty Bothwell (3-1, 4.93 ERA) vs Kenny Lippman (1-2, 5.46 ERA) Rothwell was brilliant in his last start against Butler going eight innings and allowing just two runs. He's had a rocky season allowing four or more in three starts in his fifth season with Indiana. He also threw an inning of scoreless relief last Tuesday against Middle Tennessee State. After a strong start to the season, Lippman has struggled mightily in his last four starts. He has given up 16 earned runs in his last four starts and has only gotten through the sixth one time. Most recently, he was lit up by Michigan allowing five runs, and was unable to finish the fourth inning. He only pitched one inning against Indiana, last year, and struck out the side in that appearance. Saturday, 2:00 PM: Connor Foley (3-1, 3.75 ERA) vs Logan Koester (4-2, 4.54 ERA) After only throwing 29 innings last season, Foley has been the best pitcher on the Hoosier staff in 2024. He leads the team in strikeouts with 54 and was the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for the week of February 19th. He had a career performance against Illinois on March 23rd throwing seven innings of two-hit shutout ball. He gave up three to Butler last weekend. Koester got lit up in his last start against Michigan, as the Wolverines jumped on him for eight runs before Koester could finish the second inning. It was by far the worst start of the season for a pitcher who has been usually reliable for Maryland this season. He'll look for a replica of his last home conference start when he pitched into the eighth inning against Michigan State. Sunday, noon: TBD vs Joey McMannis (0-0, 3.76 ERA) Indiana has not announced a starter for Sunday. McMannis put together his first outing without a walk last time out against Michigan, but let up three runs in the four innings he pitched. He also made his best start of the season against Michigan State. McMannis has delivered a little bit of consistency for Maryland's rotation, having not allowed more than 3 runs in any appearance this season. Hitters to Watch Indiana The Hoosiers are led by infielder Brock Tibbits, who has 149 consecutive starts for Indiana. In those 149 consecutive, he has reached safely in 133 of them. He was also named to the 2023 All-Big Ten Second Team. Another player to watch for IU at the plate is junior outfielder Carter Mathison. Mathison is currently tied for tenth all-time in home runs for the Hoosiers with 36. He is a career .290 hitter over the last three seasons, and also holds Indiana's single-season home run record for a freshman and was named to the 2022 All-Big Ten Freshmen Team. Sophomore outfielder Devin Taylor will also likely be a key contributor for IU at the plate, as he comes into the weekend with a .377 average. He was a 2023 All-Big Ten First Team member as a freshman and also won Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season. Maryland Elijah Lambros has been heating up for the Terps recently, hitting three home runs in Maryland's last five games, including a grand slam at Georgetown last week. Sam Hojnar had a good game Wednesday against UMBC with a pair of two-run singles, including the game-winner for the Terps. Chris Hacopian also continues to stay among the best hitters in the Big Ten, with a .339 average and seven home runs. All three games can be seen on Big Ten Plus. All Maryland Baseball games are free to listen to on the Maryland Baseball Network. 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