Terps Open Season at Alabama
2/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - After advancing to its second consecutive Super Regional last season, the Maryland baseball opens its 2016 season with a trip to Alabama this weekend.
Setting the stage
Friday - 7:30
RHP Mike Shawaryn vs. RHP Geoffrey Bramblett
Saturday - 4:30
RHP Taylor Bloom vs. RHP Jake Walters
Sunday - 1:00
RHP Brian Shaffer vs. RHP Nick Eicholtz
Location: Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Stadium: Sewell-Thomas Stadium
Live Video: SEC Network +
Live Radio: Maryland Baseball Network
Live Stats: rolltide.com
Twitter: @TerpsBaseball
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Terps among b1g Favorites
• After winning a school record 42 games and advancing to its second straight Super Regional, Maryland has been picked to win the Big Ten by D1Baseball.com in its conference preview.
• The Terps were selected to place second in the conference in the Big Ten preseason coaches poll. Junior RHP Mike Shawaryn, junior DH Nick Cieri and sophomore SS Kevin Smith were named Players to Watch.
#TheUnicorn leads the way
• Junior Mike Shawaryn put together one of the best seasons by a pitcher in Maryland history in 2015, racking up a program record 13 wins and 138 strikeouts. Shawaryn recorded a 1.71 ERA and held opposing hitters to a .202 average.
• Shawaryn is a preseason first-team All-American in most major outlets. He was named the preseason Big Ten Pitcher of the Year by Perfect Game and D1Baseball.com.
• After pitching for USA Baseball this summer, Shawaryn was named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List. Sponsored by Major League Baseball and USA Baseball, the award is presented to the top amatuer baseball player in the country.
• He was named a first-team All-American by the NCBWA, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Perfect Game in 2015. Shawaryn was the first Maryland player to be named a first-team All-American since 2002, when John McCurdy was a NCBWA first teamer.
• Shawaryn became the second student-athlete in Maryland baseball history to don the Stars and Stripes since 1979 when he joined the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team over the summer. Shawaryn recorded 10.1 IP for the national team.
• Shawaryn's 24 career wins are the most for any junior in the country entering the 2016 season. Those 24 wins are a program record.
• He was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on four occasions last season.
• Shawaryn was a freshman All-American in 2014 where he set the program record for wins in a season with 11.
sensational smith
• Sophomore Kevin Smith had a spectacular debut campaign in College Park en route to being named a freshman All-American by D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game. He is the Terps' third freshman All-American in the last two season with Mike Shawaryn and Brandon Lowe earning plaudits in 2014.
• Smith was named preseason All-Big Ten by Perfect Game.
• Smith's 55 runs scored were the best mark by a freshman in the Big Ten. He started 65 games, mostly at shortstop, and batted .273 with seven home runs and 35 RBIs.
• He starred during the Terps' postseason run and was named the Big Ten All-Tournament team.
UNtouchable
• Maryland returns two of the top relief pitchers in the Big Ten; Robert Galligan and Ryan Selmer. Both were named to the NCWBA Stopper of the Year Watch List.
• Galligan had a breakout junior season, tossing 62.1 IP to the tune of a 2.74 ERA. Galligan racked up 58 strikeouts.
• The senior pitched in huge spots all season, picking up the win against top overall seed UCLA in the second game of the Los Angeles Regional.
• Selmer tied the Maryland record for appearances with 31 in 2015 and recorded a 2.18 ERA.
weekend potential
• Maryland boasts a pair of young arms that will slide into the weekend rotations this season; Taylor Bloom and Brian Shaffer.
• Bloom recorded a 2-3 record with a 4.01 ERA, but came on late in the year in a couple of postseason starts. The Crofton, Md., native tossed 3.1 IP and gave up just one run in the Big Ten Tournament final against Michigan.
• Bloom then earned Los Angeles Regional All-Tournament honors after throwing 6.1 IP with just one run and one hit allowed. Bloom needed just 58 pitches in that effort.
• Shaffer started 11 games last season as a true freshman, going 5-1 with a 4.57 ERA. His biggest start of the season came in the Big Ten Championships against Illinois. Shaffer tossed seven innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts to help the Terps end the Illini's 27-game winning streak
REWRITE THE RECORD BOOK
• The 2015 Terps left their mark in the school's record book. The squad won a school record 42 games, breaking the record of 40 that was set in 2014.
• The Terrapins also notched a program-best 36 regular season wins.
• The Terps advanced to consecutive NCAA Tournaments for the first time in 44 years (1970, 71).
• The 2015 squad produced a school record eight players selected in the MLB Draft.
• Maryland pitchers produced 549 strikeouts, which represents a school and conference record..
• Mike Shawaryn set the school record for total wins (13) and strikeouts (138) in a season.
szefc at the helm
• John Szefc is in his fourth season at Maryland. Szefc became the fastest coach in Maryland history to reach 100 wins when the Terps defeated Purdue on April 26, 2015.
• Szefc is the only coach to win 40 games in back-to-back seasons after a 42-win campaign in 2015. The skipper is also the first Maryland coach to achieve three straight 30-win seasons.
• With another trip to the NCAA Super Regionals last season, Szefc became the first skipper in Maryland history to reachthe round in back-to-back years.
• On his first attempt, Szefc led the Terps to the final of the Big Ten Tournament. It is the second straight year the Terps have advanced to a conference tournament championship game after making the ACC final in 2014.
• Szefc picked up his 300th career victory against Michigan on March 28, 2015.
• Szefc's second season saw him lead Maryland to a then program record 40 wins and its first NCAA Tournament apperance since 1971.
• Maryland won the Columbia Regional and advanced to the Super Regional round for the first time in school history.
• The Terrapins advanced to the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2005 and advanced to the conference title game for the first time since 1976.
• Under Szefc, Maryland has won seven NCAA Tournament games. The Terps had previously won just one NCAA Tournament game - in 1970.
• In his first season as skipper in 2013, head coach Szefc led the Terps to a 30-25 record and finished 11-19 in the ACC.
• Szefc's 30 wins were the most by a first-year Maryland coach in program history.
best class... ever
• Maryland baseball's 2016 recruiting class earned the program's highest ever rating from multiple publications including D1Baseball.com (17), Baseball America (22) and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (27).
• The Terrapin class includes 12 true freshman and two junior college transfers.
• Two members of the group, pitchers Hunter Parsons (40th round, Indians) and Andrew Miller (34th round, Yankees), were selected in the 2015 MLB Draft.
• Freshman Nick Dunn was named a top prospect from the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League by Perfect Game. Dunn is expected to contribute is his first season as a Terrapin.
• Nick Browne earned Perfect Game top prospect honors in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.
• Baseball American named outfielder Marty Costes a top prospect from the Cal Ripken League.
• Maryland's class is boasted by two outstanding JUCO transfers. Former Harford Community College star Brandon Smith clashed .420/.510/.663 to help his squad win the Maryland JUCO Championships.
• Madison Nickens could slide into Maryland's starting center field spot after helping LSU-Eunice win the NJCAA Division II National Championship with a .289 average with six home runs and 37 RBIs. Nickens also brings elite speed. His 39 stolen bases ranked fifth in the nation.
• The class also boats two-time Washington D.C. Gatorade Player of the Year AJ Lee along with 2015 Baltimore Sun Metro Player of the Year Truman Thomas.
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