Rutgers baseball faced a tough series finale against Maryland, resulting in a 13-11 loss despite a back-and-forth offensive battle. The Scarlet Knights, having already secured their spot in the Big Ten Tournament, couldn’t overcome Maryland’s late-game surge. Read on to discover the key plays and offensive highlights from the Rutgers baseball game as they prepare for the upcoming tournament.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Rutgers baseball dropped its series finale to Maryland by a score of 13-11 on Saturday afternoon at Bob Smith Stadium.
The Scarlet Knights (28-17, 15-15) were unable to overcome a trio of big innings from the Terrapins (27-29, 12-18), who avoided the sweep.
Rutgers has already clinched a berth in next week’s Big Ten Tournament, with seeding and opponents to be determined later tonight.
While Maryland was able to get on the board with a solo homer in the first, RU responded with four in the second.
Matt Chatelle and JT Thompson each doubled in a run before a wild pitch and sac fly from RJ Johnson Jr. made it 4-1.
The Terrapins answered right back with a three-run homer to tie it in the bottom half.
Jack Kirchner came in with one out in the second and got out of the frame with no more runs. He also tossed a scoreless third for 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.
Charles Batista contributed another two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out a pair.
With one out in the sixth, Maryland hit a solo home run to take a 5-4 lead. The Rutgers offense hung another crooked number in the seventh on a three-run homer from Peyton Bonds, his fifth of season to give RU the 7-5 lead.
The Terrapins kept fighting back, scoring four in the seventh on an RBI single and three-run home to take a 9-7 advantage going into the eighth.
The back-and-forth affair continued in the eighth as RU took a 10-9 lead on a two-run homer from Ty Doucette and an RBI double from Bonds. Despite that, Maryland rallied for another four in the bottom half to make it 13-10.
While Yomar Carreras led off the ninth with a solo home run, that was all for the Scarlet Knights as the Terrapins closed out the victory.
Rutgers now turns its attention to the Big Ten Tournament next week, with seeding and opponents to be finalized after Saturday evening’s conference games conclude.
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