Maryland (3-5)Â vs. Penn State (2-6)
March 20-22, 2021
Medlar Field at Lubrano Park (University Park, Pa.)
1:00 pm (Saturday 3/20)
1:00 pm (Sunday 3/21)
4:00 pm (Monday 3/22)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland baseball team is set to play a three-game series vs. Penn State this weekend. Originally scheduled to be a Friday-Saturday-Sunday series, the three-game set was pushed back a day due to weather in the State College area. Maryland will compete in its first three-game series of the season, after playing four each vs. Michigan State and Rutgers.
Even though fans will not be able to cheer on the Terps from the stands, you can still be a part of the gameday experience by purchasing a Terrapin Cutout. Click here to learn more.
 THIS WEEK'S STORYLINES
preseason honors abound
- Junior first baseman Maxwell Costes has earned the lion's share of Maryland's 2021 preseason honors. Most notably (and recently), Costes was named to USA Baseball's prestigious Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List. Costes becomes just the fifth Terp in program history to contend for the award, which is presented annually to the top amateur baseball player in the nation.Â
- Costes has also racked up Preseason All-American accolades from D1Baseball.com, Perfect Game, Collegiate Baseball, and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA), as well as being named D1Baseball's Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.
- Other Terps earning considerable preseason recognition are Sean Burke (Perfect Game Preseason Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten), Randy Bednar (Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten), and Jason Savacool (Baseball America Big Ten Preseason Newcomer of the Year).
terps in the mlb draft rankings
- Maryland has developed a number of elite draft prospects over the years, and this year's squad may be as loaded as ever with major-league potential.
- According to D1Baseball, Maryland possesses two of the best Big Ten draft prospects in the 2021 draft class (Sean Burke, #6; Maxwell Costes, #10), four top prospects in the 2022 draft class (Bobby Zmarzlak, #1; Connor Staine, #2; Nick Dean, #6; Dave Falco, #8), and two more in the 2023 draft class (Jason Savacool, #2; Matt Shaw, #9).
- Baseball America ranks the current Maryland prospects highly as well - with Sean Burke ranked third overall among Big Ten prospects in the 2021 draft class and Maxwell Costes ranked 14th.
- The 2022 Baseball America prospect rankings feature Bobby Zmarzlak (#1 overall in the Big Ten) and Connor Staine (#7), while the 2023 Big Ten prospects are headlined by another Terp in Jason Savacool (#1).
maryland will play 44 big ten games
- Maryland's modified 2021 schedule will allow the Terps to play 44 conference-only games this spring. Maryland will open the season with a four-game series against Michigan State in Greenville, South Carolina at Fluor Field, home of the Boston Red Sox Class-A affiliate Greenville Drive, on the weekend of March 5-7.
- Maryland will host Big Ten foes Rutgers, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, Minnesota, Purdue, and Indiana.
- Meanwhile, Maryland will travel to fellow Big Ten institutions Penn State, Ohio State, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and Michigan.
series history vs. the nittany lions
- Maryland is 15-13 all-time against Penn State.
- The Terps last met Penn State in University Park in 2019, when Maryland took 2-of-3 games in the series.
- Maryland was slated for a three-game set against the Nittany Lions in 2020 before the season was canceled.
2020 in review
- Maryland's shortened 2020 campaign was a glimpse of things to come for the Terps, who haven't appeared in an NCAA Tournament since 2017.
- Just 15 non-conference games into the season, Maryland finished the year with a 10-5 record, winning the series against Bryant and Rhode Island but losing a three-game set at Coastal Carolina.
- Maxwell Costes led the Terps in nearly every offensive category, slashing .432/.620/.750 and belting 4 homers with 15 runs driven in. The slugger from Baltimore was also walked a league-high 16 times.
- Randy Bednar and Chris Alleyne were mainstays at the top of the order and in the outfield for Maryland. Bednar and Alleyne were hit machines for the Terps, hitting at a .387 and .333 clip, respectively.
- The Maryland pitching staff was anchored by redshirt freshman Sean Burke, who started in four games and pitched a team-high 22 and one third innings. Burke went 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA. He was backed up by Sean Fisher and Nick Dean in the starting rotation, as well as impressive arms out of the bullpen in Elliot Zoellner, Sam Bello, and Connor Staine.
