Preview: year one of Maryland baseball under Matt Swope

It’s a new era for Maryland Baseball. Rob Vaughn has left the program to be the head coach at Alabama, and Maryland Baseball lifer Matt Swope will be taking the reigns of the program. A New Carrollton native, DeMatha Catholic graduate, and Maryland alum, Swope has been with the program since 2013 when he joined staff as Director of Operations after shining as an outfielder for the Terps beginning in 1999-2002. Swope ranks second in program history in career hits and runs, and ranks fifth in career walks and at-bats. Including his playing days, this will be his 16th season with the program.

“I’ll never forget in the regional when we hosted (in 2022), to kind of experience that moment going out to coach third base, I was literally in tears,” said Swope. “I always say for me, this isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle. This is a lifestyle and it’s a blessing and bigger.”

Maryland is coming off of back-to-back Big Ten Championships, a Big Ten Tournament Championship, and the program’s third consecutive regional appearance. In 2021, Maryland fell to East Carolina, 9-6, with a trip to the Super Regional on the line. In 2022, Maryland fell to UConn, 11-8, in the regional final. And in 2023, Maryland fell to George Mason on a walk-off hit in the elimination game in the Winston-Salem Regional.

This season, the Terps will welcome a lot of new faces to The Bob. They’ll be joined by some familiar bats, in hopes of winning a third consecutive Big Ten regular season title.

Key losses:

Despite having a talented roster for 2024, the Terps will have to fill in some major star power they lost during the offseason. Most notably, the Terps will have to replace the left side of the infield. All-world shortstop and reigning Big Ten Player of the Year Matt Shaw was taken 13th overall in the first round of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs. Shaw became the highest-drafted player ever taken from the University of Maryland, and left the Terps as the program’s all-time home run leader. Additionally, the Terps will have a new third baseman. After putting up a monstrous season with a program record 105 RBIs, third baseman Nick Lorusso was picked in the 9th round of the draft by the New York Mets. Maryland’s captain from last year, catcher Luke Shliger, was also drafted. Shliger was taken in the 6th round by the San Francisco Giants. Shliger, Shaw, and Lorusso was usually how Maryland went 1-2-3 in the lineup. Losing all three is a big hit. Their cleanup hitter from last season is also not returning. DH Ian Petrutz followed Rob Vaughn to Alabama. In the rotation, Maryland lost both of their horses. Jason Savacool went in the 8th round to the St Louis Cardinals. Nick Dean was taken in the 19th round by the Cubs. In addition, the best bullpen arm from last year is also gone. Flamethrower Nigel Belgrave was picked in the 15th round by the Miami Marlins. Sophomore Kyle McCoy will also miss the season after having Tommy John surgery after the 2023 campaign ended. Swope expressed some hope that McCoy could possibly join the team at the end of the season, but is not counting on it.

Who’s Returning:

Despite losing a lot of major pieces from last season, the Terps are still returning some key pieces for this season. Most notably, infielder Kevin Keister is back for his senior season. Keister, who was named captain for this season by Swope, was named to the 2022 All Big Ten First Team, is coming off back-to-back seasons hitting over .300 while starting at second base in both seasons.

“It was a really easy decision”, said Keister on whether or not he ever thought about leaving. “I love Swope, and I love Maryland. We’ve been to three regionals, and I want something more for this program and this team. We want to go to Omaha and I want to be a part of that at the University of Maryland.”

2023 Third Team All-Big Ten centerfielder Elijah Lambros is also back. Lambros hit .288 with 14 home runs, all while playing an elite centerfield. Lambros and Swope made some changes in his swing last season after he struggled in the early part of the season, and have continued tweaking things this off-season.

“I’m happy with my season last year, but I definitely want to put up better numbers and help my team win,” said Lambros. “This fall, me and Swope made a big adjustment in my swing and my approach.”

The final major piece in the lineup returning is first baseman Eddie Hacopian, who Swope said will also play some second base and outfield in 2024. Hacopian hit .328 last season while starting all 63 games at first base. Major pitchers returning include Andrew Johnson, who played a key role out of the bullpen down the stretch, Kenny Lippman, who had a fantastic start to last season before going in a slump towards the end, and Nate Haberthier, who was in Maryland’s opening weekend rotation, but fell out of it due to struggles.

New Faces:

Matt Swope got a bunch of players in the transfer portal to try and fill some of the holes left by Maryland’s record-breaking 2023 team. Most notably, Swope brought in former Iowa infielder and fifth-year student, Sam Hojnar. The Naperville, IL native started 57 games last season for the Hawkeyes while hitting .255 with 24 extra-base hits. He ranked second on Iowa last season with 59 RBIs and third in home runs with 10. Maryland will be Hojnar’s fourth school in five seasons. Additionally, Swope brought in a second transfer from another Big Ten school. Alex Calarco, who spent the last two seasons at Northwestern, will be coming to College Park. Calarco started 47 games for the Wildcats last season while hitting .287 and adding 29 RBIs. Calarco also comes from the Chicago area hailing from Wilmette, Illinois. He had surgery this past off-season and will start the season at DH and possibly first base, before resuming regular throwing during the season.

“He’s a huge addition to the lineup,” said Swope on Calarco. “It gives us more versatility.”

Freshmen are also expected to play a big role on this team. Eddie Hacopian’s younger brother Chris will play a large role and will likely get a lot of playing time at third. Brayden Martin, the seventh-ranked player from Maryland (Perfect Game) is also in line for a fair amount of at-bats. From the pitching side, Dartmouth transfer Trystan Sarcone could slide into the rotation. He was a second-team All-Ivy League start in 2022.

Projected Defensive Alignment

C – Devin Russell – So – Boonton Township, NJ
1B = Eddie Hacopian – Jr – Potomac, MD
2B – Sam Hojnar – RSr – Naperville, IL
3B – Chris Hacopian – Fr – Potomac, MD
SS – Kevin Keister – Sr – Smyrna, DE
LF – Jordan Crosland – Fr – Suffolk, VA
CF – Elijah Lambros – Jr – Fredricksburg, VA
RF – Brayden Martin – Fr – Bowie, MD

Projected Rotation

SP1 – Kenny Lippman – 5th – McLean, VA
SP2 – Logan Koester – RSr – Merrick, NY
SP3 – Trystan Sarcone – 5th – Greenwich, CT

May 7, 2024

Preview: year one of Maryland baseball under Matt Swope

benreitman