COLLEGE PARK, Md. – The Maryland baseball team has earned the No. 4 seed in the 2017 Big Ten Tournament, the conference announced Saturday afternoon.
The Terrapins will be in the bottom half of the bracket and face off with fifth-seeded Iowa when the tournament kicks off on Wednesday, May 24 in Bloomington, Ind., with first pitch scheduled at 8:30 p.m. at Bart Kaufman Field. The game will be broadcast live on BTN.
Once again this season, BTN will televise all games of the Big Ten Baseball Tournament live, with each game also available on the BTN2Go platform, either online at btn2go.com or through the BTN2Go app. Fans can also tune in to each Maryland game on the Maryland Baseball Network, via marylandbaseballnetwork.com or the MIXLR app.
Maryland enters the tournament with 34 wins, the third-most in a single season in school history. Maryland's 15 conference wins ties a school record set in 1970 and 2014.
Right-handed pitcher Brian Shaffer, a two-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honoree, leads the conference in ERA (1.67) and innings pitched (97.0), is second in strikeouts (98) and third in opposing batting average (.206). The rest of the starting rotation features two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week Tyler Blohm, who is tied for the Big Ten lead in wins, and 2016 third-team All-Big Ten selection junior Taylor Bloom. Right-hander Ryan Selmer anchors the bullpen with a team-high seven saves.
Sophomore outfielder Marty Costes leads the Maryland offense with a .336 average and nine home runs. He also has a team-high 39 RBIs. Senior Brandon Gum leads the Terps with a .435 on-base percentage, while junior Zach Jancarski has a.324 average and 45 runs scored from the lead-off spot. Jancarski was named Big Ten Player of the Week one time this season.
Junior Kevin Smith leads the Terps with 10 home runs on the season. Third baseman AJ Lee is another key cog in the offense with a .323 average, 31 RBIs and seven home runs.
Head coach John Szefc is the only coach in Maryland history to win 30 games in five consecutive seasons. The skipper has led the Terps to a pair of conference tournament final appearances, in 2014 in the ACC and 2015 in the Big Ten. Both of those teams advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals.
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