The Maryland baseball team dropped a 7-6 decision to a quality Liberty Flames team in a game played in College Park. Tuesday afternoon. Normal circumstances might prompt me to write a recap of the game and move on. Losing to the Flames (#42 RPI) even at home is certainly not usually a loss that has the potential to be a season changing loss but here in mid-May 2015 the situation is not quite normal. In fact, the loss leaves the Terps on the brink of possibly the most ironic moment in the history of Terrapins baseball.
When the Terps traveled to Columbus to face Ohio State this past weekend after being swept at home by the Indiana Hoosiers the previous weekend, they had played themselves onto the NCAA Tournament bubble. When they left Columbus Sunday evening having taken two of three from the Buckeyes, they appeared to notched a place comfortably within that bubble. Ina normal year, the loss to Liberty would be just another loss. In 2015, it probably put Maryland back on the bubble.
Maryland won the series opener Friday and dropped the middle game on Saturday after they rallied from nine runs down to have the tying run on second and the potential winning run on first with out in the ninth before falling just short 13-12. Sunday, the Terps rallied from 4-0 and 7-3 deficits to score 14 times in their final four at bats and win 14-10. The win not only secured the series but was the 35th of the season the most regular season wins for any team in Maryland baseball history. (Yes, the Terps won 40 games in 2014 for the first time in program history but six of those came in the postseason.)
And therein lies the irony. With three regular season games to play, the Maryland team that has already won more games in the regular season than any other in Terps’ history is in jeopardy of falling short of the NCAA Tournament.
38 Regular season wins might not be enough, really?
Why might that be, you may wonder. First, you need to keep in mind that until 2015 Maryland played baseball in the ACC which is, historically, one of the two strongest conferences in the NCAA. The simple step of changing conferences from the ACC to the Big Ten weakened Maryland’s strength of schedule. This made it all the more imperative that the Terps win all or most of the games they should win. They haven’t.
As I noted above, a loss to Liberty would not, in and of itself, be a harmful loss. Neither would, say, losing a game at home to Indiana (#49 RPI) or even the pair they lost to (#21 Iowa). But the combination of the loss to Liberty, with two to Iowa and being swept by Indiana and couple that with a pair of unreasonable early season losses to Appalachian State and James Madison both of whom are over 200 in RPI and three losses to teams between 100 and 200 and the season grows shakier.
The Terps’ end their regular season at Northwestern. Even a sweep of the Wildcats who are number 155 in RPI will not particularly enhance Maryland’s postseason chances but a sweep is almost necessary. That sweep would improve the Terrapins’ record to 38-18 overall and 16-8 on B1G play. It would assure them of no worse than finishing tied for third with Ohio State and Michigan State. Both of those teams currently sit ahead of Maryland in RPI.
Honestly, at this moment, Maryland is not playing like an NCAA contender. Lack of sound fundamental baseball whether physical, mental, or coaching might be said to have cost the Terps in at least two of their recent losses. In the 6-5 loss of the series opener against Indiana, an overly aggressive base running decision by third base coach Rob Vaughn potentially cost Maryland a run in the seventh inning when LaMonte Wade was thrown out at the plate after he hesitated on a soft line drive single to center as the Terps tried to mount a comeback against the Hoosiers. Wade was out by more than 10 feet. Maryland lost that one 6-5.
Is Maryland an NCAA ready team?
Vaughn nearly replayed that decision in the 7-6 loss to Liberty. It again came in the seventh inning of a game in which the Terps had trailed from the outset and were trying to mount a comeback. In this case, Maryland trailed 5-2 and had runners on first and second with one shortstop Kevin Smith smashed a ball off the fence in center that missed being a home run by less that a foot.
The runner on second, Kengo Kawahara, knowing he would score if the ball wasn’t caught, properly held just over halfway to third. Wade, who was on first had to break stride so as not to pass Kawahara. Despite having one of the Terps’ best hitters, Brandon Lowe due up behind Smith, Vaughn elected to send Wade. Again, even the mediocre relay several feet up the third base line reached home long before Wade. Of course, Lowe followed with a triple.
Although they are hitting and scoring runs in bunches since their midweek game against Towson, Maryland’s fielding and pitching has left much to be desired for a team with postseason ambitions. In the eight games beginning with the Indiana series, the Terrapins have played only one error free game (against Towson) and have committed 13 errors in the other seven. Meanwhile, Maryland pitching has yielded 61 runs over that same eight game span.
As noted above, at this point, even a sweep of Northwestern is not likely to assure Maryland of a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps need to sweep the Wildcats and win at least one and possibly two in the B1G Tournament for their first second straight NCAA appearance since 1970 and 1971. Maryland won 41 games in those two seasons combines. They won 40 last season and three wins over Northwestern would five them 38 this year. And still, it might not be enough. Ironic, isn’t it?
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