Maryland (9-10) vs. Nebraska (13-5)
April 9-11, 2021
Hawks Field at Haymarket Park (Lincoln, Neb.)
5:00 pm (Friday, 4/9)
3:00 pm (Saturday, 4/10)
1:00 pm (Sunday, 4/11)
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland baseball team is set to play three games in Lincoln, Nebraska against the Nebraska Cornhuskers this weekend. All three games will take place at Hawks Field at Haymarket Park on the campus of the University of Nebraska, and all will be streamed on Big Ten Network Plus.
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.
- 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 HUSKERS
- Maryland owns a 6-4 all time advantage against Nebraska. The two teams did not meet until becoming conference partners in 2015.
- Maryland was slated to host Nebraska in 2020 before the season was canceled.
- Most recently, the Huskers took 2-of-3 in a series at Nebraska in 2018.
- The Huskers are led by head coach Will Bolt, who came up the coaching ranks alongside Rob Childress (Texas A&M), Andy Sawyers (Southeastern Missouri State), and Matt Deggs (Sam Houston State) - who Maryland skipper Rob Vaughn also spent time playing for and coaching alongside the same group.
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.
