Maryland baseball head coach Rob Vaughn believes his team is prepared for the moment heading into the Winston-Salem regional, which will take place from June 2-5.
Vaughn’s squad just claimed the program’s first-ever Big Ten Tournament championship, earning the No. 2 seed in the regional hosted by No. 1 Wake Forest (47-10, 22-7 ACC). The Terps’ first game will be Friday at 1 p.m. against No. 3 seed Northeastern (44-14, 20-10 CAA).
“It’s going to be a tough regional, but our guys are playing their best baseball when it matters,” Vaughn said on Glenn Clark Radio May 30.
The Terps got off to a rough 4-7 start, featuring losses against Ole Miss and Vanderbilt. Maryland also faced key injuries throughout the course of the season, as senior third baseman Nick Lorusso and starting pitchers Nick Dean and Kyle McCoy missed time due to injury. Nevertheless, the Terps finished with their second straight 40-win season en route to the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships.
Vaughn believes that those regular-season challenges will help his team in the NCAA Tournament.
“[The] 48 games that we won last year is pretty special, but this group’s a little more battle-tested,” Vaughn said. “They’ve been through the ups and downs a little bit more and I think that’s going to prepare them to get in the dogfight this weekend and hopefully find a way to keep playing and staying together.”
Vaughn also believes that his team is prepared for the weekend’s environment after playing in hostile environments already this season.
The Terps traveled to Ole Miss — ranked fourth nationally at the time — for an early-season weekend series. They then had to play two Big Ten Tournament games against Nebraska in front of a pro-Huskers crowd in Omaha, then played in front of a pro-Iowa crowd in the championship game.
“That’s what we kind of tried to prepare for all year long — going down to Ole Miss and playing them earlier in the year and I think trying to navigate those waters and get these guys in hostile environments,” Vaughn said. “We knew that’s what the postseason looks like. … We’re going to have our work cut out for us, but we’re excited for the challenge.”
The Demon Deacons enter the regional as the No. 1 ranked team by D1Baseball.com and with the top RPI in the nation. Wake Forest features a premier pitching staff, which recorded a nation-best 2.82 ERA. The Deacons also have ACC Pitcher of the Year in Rhett Lowder.
Maryland ended Wake Forest’s season last year with a 10-5 victory in the College Park regional.
“We ended their season last year, so I’m sure there’s an element that they’re wanting some revenge back and to do the same for us,” Vaughn said.
The Terps are also familiar with No. 3 seed Northeastern after the Wildcats defeated Maryland in May, 9-2.
Maryland hasn’t made it to super regionals in two NCAA Tournament appearances under Vaughn. The last time Maryland made super regionals was in 2015 under former head coach John Szefc.
The Terps will look to thwart that trend with their hot play. They won 11 of 15 in May with a perfect 4-0 record in the Big Ten tournament.
It will be the last opportunity for the current group of team leaders to win in the postseason. Lorusso and juniors Matt Shaw and Luke Shliger are slated to be picked up in July’s MLB Draft, with Shaw ranked as the No. 18 prospect by MLB.com. Dean and fellow starting pitcher Jason Savacool could also be drafted in July.
“I think this group’s done a great job of being very present and I think that’s what we’ll have to do this weekend,” Vaughn said. “… We’re just going to try to be super present and just play our best baseball. If we can do that, I can live with whatever the results are.”
For more from Vaughn, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics