MM 5.8: Maryland softball earns No. 8 seed in Big Ten Tournament following sweep of Illinois

This is the Maryland Minute, a short story followed by a roundup of Terps-related news.

Maryland softball (36-16, 11-11 Big Ten) earned the No. 8 seed in the Big Ten Tournament following a three-game sweep over Illinois this past weekend. The tournament will take place from May 10-13.

The road sweep was the Terps’ first since joining the Big Ten in 2014. Maryland outscored the Illini a combined 20-4 in the series.

Saturday’s 8-1 win marked the Terps’ 10th conference win of the season, making it the third consecutive year in which they have won at least 10 Big Ten contests.

Maryland, which has racked up its most wins in a single season since 2011, will face No. 9-seed Iowa in the first round on Wednesday. The Terps won the regular-season series between the two teams, 2-1.

In other news

Maryland men’s lacrosse fell to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament championship Saturday, 14-5. Colin McNamara covered the game from Baltimore. The Terps earned the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Maryland women’s lacrosse also lost in the Big Ten Tournament championship Saturday. It lost to No. 1 Northwestern, 14-9. Ryan Alonardo recapped the defeat. The Terps are unseeded in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 17 years.

Maryland baseball won its sixth straight Big Ten series, winning two of three games against Nebraska. Ben Wolf covered games one and two, and Jon Iacovacci had coverage of Sunday’s rubber match.

Maryland baseball set numerous records in Sunday’s 20-5 win over the Cornhuskers, highlighted by senior third baseman Nick Lorusso breaking the program’s single-season RBI record.

- Nick Lorusso breaks Terrapin single season RBI record with
- grand slams for Maryland
- Lorusso's RBI ties a single-game program record
- Program record runs in a Big Ten game

Terps up 20-5 pic.twitter.com/Jz8vxo8CO0
— Maryland Baseball (@TerpsBaseball) May 7, 2023

Maryland women’s basketball’s Shyanne Sellers, Faith Masonius, Brinae Alexander and Bri McDaniel fell in the quarterfinals of the USA Basketball 3X Nationals.

So proud of our Terps and how they competed at the @usab3x3 Nationals! #FTT x #3XNationals pic.twitter.com/eQUfIxs4Op
— Maryland Women’s Basketball (@TerpsWBB) May 7, 2023

Maryland track and field enjoyed Senior Day on Friday during the annual Kehoe Twilight meet in College Park.

What a day at our place!

: https://t.co/uppmBc6CDo #KeepUp pic.twitter.com/TjtweW1Vhq
— Maryland Track & Field (@MarylandTrack) May 6, 2023

Maryland women’s golf is competing in the NCAA Regionals on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Back to business in Georgia for the @NCAA Regionals!⛳️

Preview: https://t.co/h5SnKOOLbR #GolfTerps pic.twitter.com/cOoCVvJtXy
— Maryland Women's Golf (@TerpsWGolf) May 7, 2023

Incoming Maryland men’s basketball freshman Deshawn Harris-Smith is the No. 25 recruit in the nation, per 247Sports.

DHS is gonna be a problem

Heading to CP as the No. 25 ranked recruit in the nation (247Sports) pic.twitter.com/B9tIKIE14O
— Maryland Men’s Basketball (@TerrapinHoops) May 5, 2023

First-round NFL draft pick Deonte Banks had his first day of practice with the New York Giants.