Originally Published for WMUC Sports (March 9, 2014)
FSU Hall of Fame coach Mike Martin was effusive in his praise for the 2014 Maryland baseball team, calling this year’s Terps squad the best in his long tenure at Florida State.
“This is the best Maryland team I’ve seen since we’ve been competing against Maryland,” Martin said. “And it’s John Szefc and his staff. You don’t fool ‘em. You don’t fool 'em. When DJ [Stewart] got picked off, I changed the sign. That’s how much respect I got for them.”
Martin played at FSU in the mid-1960s and has been the head coach for the past 35 seasons. He has been involved in 76 percent of the wins in the history of Florida State baseball. He has the most victories of any active coach in America (For Martin's full resume, click here)
- Photo: John Vittas
“Maryland is a very impressive club,” Martin said with his thick southern drawl. “They’re going to be very, very tough this year.
Martin also complimented Maryland’s top two starting pitchers, Jake Stinnett and Mike Shawaryn, throughout the weekend. Shawaryn beat Martin’s No. 2 Seminoles on Saturday afternoon.
“We ran into a buzzsaw last night with Shawaryn. He was beautiful.”
The Terps (9-4, 1-2) return home losers in two out of three in Tallahassee, but with an impressive win against the country’s number two team. Boasting a 7-0 non-conference record, Maryland hosts Delaware on Tuesday at 4 p.m., which can be heard live here on WMUC Sports.
“They’re a good group of guys that do it right,” Martin said. “He [John Szefc] is to be commended. They’re on the right track.”
TO HEAR MARTIN'S FULL COMMENTS ON MARYLAND BASEBALL FROM SUNDAY'S PRESS CONFERENCE, CLICK HERE
FOR FULL WEEKEND COVERAGE OF THE MARYLAND / FSU SERIES, CLICK HERE
