During Papio's time as a Terp, Maryland baseball has enjoyed fantastic success. In his six seasons as a coach, the Terps have gone 179-119 including NCAA tournament berths in 2017, 2021 and 2022. Papio was a student assistant in 2017 before being elevated to volunteer assistant in 2018.
Since coming to College Park as a player in 2012, Papio has been involved 353 wins, the most successful 12-year stretch in the history of the program. Maryland's four winningest seasons in program history have included Papio as either a player or coach (2014, 2015, 2017, 2022).
Papio's first season as a fulltime assistant saw the Terps' finish with the best record in program history at 48-14. The Terps earned the right to host an NCAA Regional for the first time in school history after earning the first nationals seed in program history (No. 15). The Terps also captured the 2022 Big Ten Regular Season Championship, their first conference title since 1971 and first outright conference title since 1965.
Papio was key in the development of 2022 Big Ten Player of the Year Chris Alleyne, who hit a school record 24 home runs and notched 79 RBIs en route to first-team All-American honors. The 2022 Terps, who boasted three total All-Americans, had three players selected in the 2022 MLB Draft and ten players selected as All-Big Ten honorees.
In his six seasons as a coach in College Park, Papio has worked extensively with Maryland's outfielders and coordinated the Terps' running game, along with assisting with hitting instruction. Fifteen Terps have been drafted during Papio's tenure. Ten players have earned All-American honors and 25 have earned All-Big Ten plaudits.
Papio was key in the development of Randy Bednar, who became one of the best outfielders in the Big Ten in 2019, earning all-conference honors. He also helped Chris Alleyne make the transition from the infield to center field, which propelled Alleyne to All-Big Ten honors in 2021.
Papio's role helping tutor Maryland's outfielders has helped Marty Costes earn selection in the 2018 MLB Draft. The former Terp star also played a key role in the development of Randy Bednar, who went from up-and-down freshman to standout sophomore, earning second-team All-Big Ten honors. As the Terps running game coach, Papio helped three Terps notched double digit steals.
In his first year as a coach, Papio helped the Terrapins win 38 games, the fourth-most in school history, and advance to the Winston-Salem Regional.
Papio served as Maryland's first base coach and was the main running game coach. His work with Maryland's baserunners saw the Terps jump from 28 steals in 2016 to 101 in 2017. Five Terrapins notched double digit steals.
An accomplished outfielder as a player, Papio helped spark the development of Marty Costes and Zack Jancarski in 2017. Jancarski set career highs in all statistical categories and became one of the best defensive outfielders in the Big Ten. Costes made a successful transition to right field under Papio and exploded offensively, earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.
Papio finished his career as the winningest player in Maryland history as the Terps captured 174 victories over his five seasons in College Park. He also played the most games in school history (230) and ranks second all-time in triples (9).
In 2016, Papio started 50 times between center and right field and batted .261 with four home runs, a team-high four triples and eight doubles. He was also an invaluable team leader who served as the Terps' de facto captain.
A versatile outfielder, Papio started all 66 games during Maryland run to a second straight Super Regional appearance. He had his finest offensive season, batting .262 with a .425 slugging percentage. The Olney, Md., native hit six home runs and scored 40 times, along with driving in 26 runs.
Papio starred during Maryland's postseason run and was named to the Los Angeles Regional All-Tournament team after his clutch hitting and superb defense helped Maryland topple No. 1 overall seed UCLA.
As a sophomore, Papio started 53 games as the Terps advanced to their first NCAA Regional since 1971. He batted .271 with nine doubles and two home runs and once against came up clutch in the postseason, nabbing two hits and two RBI in both the ACC Championship game against Georgia Tech and the Columbia Regional final against South Carolina.
Papio's redshirt freshman season saw him appear 47 times with 39 starts. He posted a .245 average with five doubles and 21 RBI.
Considered the pound-for-pound strongest player on the team during his career, Papio won Maryland's internal “Iron Terps” competition three times. He was named a 2015 All-American Athlete award recipient by the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Papio was also a contributor off the field during his career, earning Big Ten All-Academic honors twice and being honored by the Big Ten as Maryland's Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winner in 2016. He was also honored by his peers at the 2016 Terp Awards with the James H. Kehoe Award, given to the student-athlete who exemplifies the ideals of sportsmanship.
Updated June 5, 2023
