---
title: Back in Full Swing
date: 2024-02-21T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/back-in-full-swing"
section: Articles
---
# Back in Full Swing

*February 21, 2024* — by [Maggie Haslam](/author/maggie-haslam)


> Former UMD All-Star Steps Up to the Plate as Head Coach

*MT otm swope 1920x1080 — Matt Swope bumps fists with Matt Shaw, the No. 13 overall pick in last summer’s MLB draft. Swope, a former Maryland baseball star and assistant coach, took the helm as head coach this season. Maryland defeated Mount St. Mary's, 14-3, in its season home opener on Tuesday at Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium.*

For former Terps star [Matt Swope ’02](https://umterps.com/sports/baseball/roster/coaches/matt-swope/2184), watching catcher Luke Shliger break his record for runs scored from the dugout of Penn State’s Medlar Field felt almost as sweet as when he set it 20 years earlier.

As assistant head coach for Maryland Baseball, he helped Shliger deliver an all-star season that led to his selection in the MLB draft—one of seven Terps to earn that honor in 2023.

The full-circle moment was just one highlight of the team’s second consecutive Big Ten championship. Now Swope is swinging for a threepeat, but from another position: head coach.


*Swope talks to player in dugout*




**Topics:** [Athletics](https://today.umd.edu/tags/athletics)


**Tags:** [Baseball](https://today.umd.edu/topic/baseball)


**Units:** [Department of Intercollegiate Athletics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/department-intercollegiate-athletics)