The Terps finished with their worst winning percentage since 2018.
For the second straight season, Maryland baseball took a step back from the year prior and failed to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament. The Terps finished 27-29 overall and 12-18 in Big Ten play.
Head coach Matt Swope labeled his second season at the helm a “disappointment” after the team was eliminated from playoff contention in the season’s final series against Rutgers. He took accountability for the team’s struggles.
This year was different from last year, though. In 2024, the Terps won the fifth most games in program history and were among the top 20 in college baseball’s rating percentage index (RPI). This was not the case in 2025, as injuries and inconsistency plagued the team.
Maryland failed to win a weekend series against a single opponent until May, losing its first nine series via numerous blown leads and missed opportunities. Then, it won back-to-back series on the road against Penn State and Minnesota to stay in contention for the Big Ten Tournament.
The Terps lost the first two games of their final series against Rutgers, eliminating them from postseason contention. They finished below average at 27-29, seven wins below last season’s total.
Nonconference play
Maryland baseball finished 12-18 in conference play, with two more wins than last season. But the team played six more games due to the expanded Big Ten.
The Terps started with a 2-1 weekend in the Swig & Swine College Classic, defeating UAB and Mercyhurst while falling to Ball State.
Maryland’s next series came against Western Carolina; it went 1-2. This series previewed what would come for the rest of the season. The Terps held a four-run lead in the seventh inning of game one thanks to a grand slam, but instantly blew the lead and lost 8-7. The next day, the offense exploded for a program record 35 runs to secure the win, but fell 11-9 in extra innings to a walk-off home run the next day to lose the series.
The Terps failed to win a weekend series against a nonconference opponent the rest of the season. They went 1-2 against Georgetown in three midweek contests while also dropping a game to UMBC.
The highlight of Maryland’s season came early with a comeback 9-8 victory against a ranked Wake Forest team. However, even then, the Terps failed to create any momentum from the win, finishing a disappointing 15-11 in nonconference play.
Big Ten play
After winning the Big Ten regular season title in 2022 and 2023, Maryland has finished below .500 in conference play the past two seasons. This year, it finished 14th out of 17 teams, ahead of just Purdue, Minnesota and Ohio State.
Maryland’s first series came in March against UCLA. The Terps saw an extra-innings bullpen collapse in game one, won game two by 10 runs and then allowed the Bruins to score 11 runs in the second inning of the decider.
In its next conference series against Washington, the Terps were blown out, 12-4, in game one. Logan Hastings won a pitcher’s duel in game two, which Maryland won 2-1, before the offense again failed to show up in a 2-0 game three loss.
The Terps had the opportunity to win their next series against Northwestern, but an extra-innings Friday loss was followed by an 18-8 Saturday domination by the Wildcats. Even though Maryland erupted for 22 runs in its Sunday victory, it was too late.
The first week of April was the low point of the season for Maryland. The Terps dropped a midweek contest to UMBC at home before being swept by Illinois. They failed to score more than four runs in a game and lost by double digits twice.
Maryland followed the same script in each of its next two series against Oregon and Indiana. The Terps held a ninth-inning lead on Friday and blew it. They then won on Saturday due to the mercy rule and followed it up with a double-digit loss on Sunday.
In its next series against Nebraska, the Terps won a Friday contest for the first time in conference play but dropped the next two games as they failed to win another series.
Finally, in May, the Terps then broke the trend. Maryland won a series at Penn State and swept Minnesota. However, their season came to an abrupt halt against Rutgers in their final series, ending the disappointing season.
Looking forward
After two consecutive disappointing campaigns, Maryland enters an interesting offseason with aspirations to regress towards the level of the most successful two-year run in program history.
Swope is likely to keep his job and return for a third season. The team will lose key players such as captain Eddie Hacopian, catcher Alex Calarco, utility man Jacob Orr and outfielder Elijah Lambros to the MLB draft or otherwise. Ace Kyle McCoy is likely to test the draft waters as well.
The Terps will return many pieces from injury, though. Maryland will hope to improve upon a disastrous season where things never seemed to go its way and return to contention in 2026.