A stronger Maryland baseball team heads to second consecutive NCAA super … – Baltimore Sun

Maryland baseball’s recent run of NCAA tournament success continued last night, as the No. 3 Terps outlasted top overall seed UCLA to capture the Los Angeles Regional.

After advancing to a Super Regional last year for the first time in school history, Maryland will return and face Virginia this week.

This recent performance is historically unprecedented for the school; Maryland’s only other NCAA tournament appearances were in 1965, 1970, and 1971. Statistically, this year’s team shows significant improvement over the 2014 Terps.

This year’s .264 batting average is slightly lower than last year’s (.271), but the biggest improvement has been in the strength of Maryland’s bats; their 52 home runs this year far exceeds last year’s total of 19 and have helped raise this year’s slugging percentage to .409 from .359 in 2014.

They have also driven in 49 more runs than last year.

Maryland has also consistently outperformed opponents on the mound, with a collective ERA of 3.26 compared to their opponent’s 5.44. This can be attributed to a deep pitching staff, headlined by sophomore pitcher Mike Shawaryn, who earned a 13-2 record with a 1.66 ERA in 108 innings.

Last year, the team had a 3.54 ERA. The team’s fielding has been strong, too, with a .972 percentage.

A move to the Big Ten Conference from the Atlantic Coast Conference might have helped. Nevertheless, this year’s significant statistical improvement indicates last season’s success was no fluke.

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