Preview: Michigan Baseball looks to keep hot streak alive at Maryland

TL;DR

Michigan baseball aims to extend its winning streak against Maryland after a strong recovery in Big Ten play. The Wolverines have won five consecutive series and currently hold a 27-17 record.

Key points

Michigan Wolverines baseball team is 27-17 overall
Wolverines have won their last five series
Maryland baseball team is 22-23 overall
Maryland has five players hitting above .300
Michigan aims to keep its winning streak alive

Michigan WolverinesMaryland Terrapins

The Michigan Wolverines’ baseball team got off to a slow start in Big Ten play thanks to a front-loaded schedule, but they are now one of the best teams in the conference. Michigan is currently 27-17 overall and 12-9 in Big Ten play. After a 1-5 start to conference play, the Wolverines have won their last five series, and every remaining opponent is behind them in the standings.

Next up: Maryland on the road.

Getting to know Maryland

Maryland is struggling this season, currently sitting with a 22-23 overall record and a 6-15 mark in Big Ten play. Despite the poor record, Maryland has a pretty strong lineup offensively. The Terrapins currently have five players hitting above .300 — Brayden Martin, Ty Kaunas, David Mendez, Paul Jones II and Jordan Crosland.

Martin leads the team with an exceptional .361 batting average. He doesn’t hit for a ton of power — he has just two homers on the year — but he has driven in 33 runs. Meanwhile, Kaunas is hitting .315 and has some more pop in the bat, as he has launched five homers and knocked in 37 RBIs.

Mendez is certainly one of the best bats in this lineup, as he is tied for first on the team with the most RBIs at 38. He also has seven long balls on the year and is hitting .312. Jones has good pop as well, as he has hit six homers and 31 RBIs so far this season to go along with his .306 average.

Perhaps the most dangerous bat in the Maryland lineup is Crosland. He is leading the Terrapins this season with 10 homers, and he is tied with Mendez for most RBIs with 38. He is currently hitting .305.

The Terrapins have done a solid job scoring runs this year, but pitching hasn’t been able to hold up. It’s hard to pinpoint who Michigan will face on the mound this weekend, but it is likely that two of the three starters will be Lance Williams and Nic Morlang.

Morlang has the most starts this season for Maryland (10), pitching 35.2 innings while giving up 30 earned runs on 54 hits (7.57 ERA). There are a couple other players with more starts than Williams, but somehow Williams’ 7.43 ERA is the best that Maryland has among pitchers who have consistently started this year. He has pitched 46 innings and has given up 38 earned runs on 53 hits. That should tell you how much Maryland has struggled this season when it comes to finding consistent pitching.