Springing to Success

The perennial powerhouse University of Maryland lacrosse teams have already given Terp fans plenty of reasons to cheer this season, with the men and women capturing the Big Ten title and surging into the conference tournaments. But they’re far from the only UMD squads inspiring Maryland pride.

From the field to the diamond to the court, Terps are turning in stellar spring performances, with five teams combining for a 75% winning percentage. Besides men’s and women’s lacrosse, ranked No. 1 and No. 4 in the nation, respectively, the baseball team has earned top-25 recognition all year amid its best-ever record to date, tennis has set the program wins record and softball is seeing unprecedented success against Big Ten opponents.

“This has been a banner spring for our Maryland sports teams,” said Damon Evans, the Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics. “Overall, our momentum with these teams and our entire athletic department at Maryland is phenomenal. We are proud of these student-athletes and coaches.”

Here’s a rundown of how Terp teams have scored big so far and what’s ahead:

Lacrosse
After securing a share of the Big Ten championship with a win against Ohio State, the men’s team took the trophy outright by dominating rival Johns Hopkins to close out an undefeated regular season (12-0). They’ll cruise into the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed on May 5 at Maryland Stadium.

Elite performances on both sides of the ball helped propel the team, with three players—attackman Logan Wisnauskas, defender Brett Makar and faceoff specialist Luke Wierman—earning nominations for the Tewaaraton Award, given annually to the sport’s top male and female college player. That trio also took home the Big Ten’s offensive, defensive and specialist player of the year awards, while Head Coach John Tillman was unanimously voted conference coach of the year.

On the women’s side, the Terps’ upset victory over Northwestern last weekend secured them at least a share of the Big Ten title, which they can fully win on Saturday as they conclude the regular season at Michigan. The 14-1 Terps also boast three Tewaaraton Award nominees: defender Abby Bosco, attacker Aurora Cordingley and goaltender Emily Sterling.

“It's been an amazing spring here in College Park for all our programs, with some really incredible teams,” Tillman said. “I love finishing up our games and getting to watch our other teams get it done. It seems like it’s been all good news for our teams lately, and that’s been awesome to see.”

Baseball
After making its first NCAA Regional appearance since 2017 last season, the “Dirty Terps,” as fans affectionately call them, are once again swinging hot bats. The squad reached the 30-win mark at the earliest point in program history, hitting the milestone in just 37 games.

Excelling offensively and defensively, the No. 23 Terps hold the Big Ten’s top spots for home runs (Chris “Bubba” Alleyne with 13), pitcher wins (Ryan Ramsey and Jason Savacool with seven each) and strikeouts (Savacool with 85).

UMD has the second-most wins in all of college baseball as it heads into a weekend series vs. Northwestern at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium with a 33-8 record.

Tennis
With their 4-1 win over Penn State last weekend, the Tennis Terps notched their 17^th victory of the regular season, matching the program record set in 1988.

Junior Selma Cadar, named Big Ten Co-Athlete of the Week on Tuesday, helped spark the win by clinching the doubles point for Maryland with partner Mary Brumfield.

That led UMD to a No. 7 seed in the Big Ten tournament in Iowa City, where it swept No. 10 Indiana yesterday, 4-0, to advance to today’s next round against No. 2 Michigan. The win gave the team the most of any Maryland tennis season.

Softball
The Terps edged Minnesota, 4-3, to claim last weekend’s three-game series, bringing them to a 26-19 overall record and a 12-5 mark in the Big Ten. That gives them the most wins since going 27-27 in 2015 and their most conference victories since going 13-8 in the ACC in 2013.

Sophomore catcher Kiley Goff and junior pitcher Courtney Wyche on Monday were named Big Ten Co-Player and Co-Pitcher of the Week, respectively. Goff posted a .625 batting average over a five-game span and Wyche recorded a 0.67 earned run average over 21 innings.

Ranked fourth in the conference, UMD will face Michigan State in a three-game series this weekend in East Lansing.

“I think we have grown into such a cohesive and competitive group who has built so much chemistry and become resilient on and off the field, just rolling with any punches that come our way,” said junior infielder Taylor Liguori. “Seeing the rest of the spring sports doing so well definitely encourages us to continue to push and grind through the end of the season, when things get tough down the stretch. … We’re not done yet!”