COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Maryland has won five straight games entering its first weekend home series of the season. Bryant will travel to College Park to take on the Terrapins for three contests at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium.
For Friday's game, fans should utilize the pay lots at the Regents Drive Garage and Union Lane Garage for parking as all other lots require a University permit until after 4 p.m. Coverage can be seen on BTN Plus ($) via BTN2Go or heard on the Maryland Baseball Network for all three contests.
LEADING IT OFF
• The Terps were comeback kids in two midweek wins, overcoming a six-run deficit to defeat William & Mary on Tuesday before coming back from four runs down to take out Saint Joseph's on Wednesday. Maryland has scored nine or more runs in four consecutive games.
• Maryland swept its three games at the USA Baseball-Irish Classic in Cary, N.C. The Terps took down Notre Dame, then No. 6 NC State and Dayton. The win over NC State was Maryland's first over a top-10 team since it defeated No. 1 UCLA to win an NCAA Regional title in 2015.
• Decorated middle infield duo Nick Dunn and Kevin Smith have helped keyed the five-game winning streak. Over the past five games, Dunn is batting .400 with eight hits, eight runs scored, three doubles and five RBI. Smith also has eight hits with five runs scored, three doubles and three RBI. Senior outfielder Madison Nickens has also broken out, with two home runs and a .429 average over the past five games.
• After early struggles Maryland's bullpen has been stellar over the past five games, giving up just three earned runs in 23.1 IP. Junior RHP Ryan Hill has been especially sensational, notching nine strikeouts to no walks in just four and two thirds of an inning.
• Maryland leads the all-time series with Bryant 5-1. The teams last met in 2016 in College Park, as the Terps took two out of three to win the series. That was the Bulldogs only series loss of the year, as they went on to hold the nation's best regular season win percentage to earn a No. 2 seed in the Charlottesville Regional.
• After stealing just 28 bases in 57 games last season, Maryland has 21 in 11 games. Maryland stole six bags against Dayton, its first six-steal game since March 19, 2014 against UMBC.
• The 2017 season is head coach John Szefc's fifth season in College Park. Szefc has led the Terps to four straight 30-win seasons and two NCAA Super Regional appearances, both program firsts. He is two wins away from becoming the fastest head coach in Terrapin history to reach the 150-win mark.
• The Terps topped the Big Ten preseason coaches poll while D1Baseball, Perfect Game and Baseball America named Maryland the Big Ten favorites for the 2017 season. It is the third straight year D1Baseball has tabbed the Terps its Big Ten preseason frontrunner.
Weekend Pitching Match-Ups
| Game | Maryland | Bryant |
|---|
| Friday |
RHP-Brian Shaffer, Jr. (101, 2.55, 20 K) |
LHP-Steve Theetge, So. (1-2, 8.53, 6 K) |
| Saturday |
RHP-Taylor Bloom, Jr. (1-2, 7.50, 10 K) |
LHP-Chris Wright, Fr. (0-1, 21.60, 1 K |
| Sunday |
LHP-Tyler Blohm, Fr. (2-1, 3.65, 12 K) |
RHP-Ross Weiner, Jr. (1-0, 4.11, 7 K) |
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