May 14, 2016 Box Score
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Rutgers baseball picked up its third Big Ten series win of the season with a 7-5 road victory over Maryland Saturday at Smith Stadium. The Scarlet Knights had previously won, 5-4, Friday in the series opener and will look for the sweep Sunday on Big Ten Network.
The triumph moved RU back to .500 at 25-25 and 8-12 in the Big Ten, marking an improvement in conference wins from last year. In addition, it was the first time Rutgers took the first two in a road Big Ten series in eight sets. UMD fell to 25-24 and 10-10.
At the plate, freshman Mike Martinez (West New York, N.J.) came off the bench and went 2-for-3 with a walk and a two-run home run. He now ties for the team lead with four long balls on the season. Senior R.J. Devish (Beachwood, N.J.), junior Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) and sophomore Milo Freeman (Millburn, N.J.) also put up two-hit games, while fifth-year senior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) knocked in two runs. RU totaled 11 hits to make it 22 for the series so far.
The Scarlet Knights added two stolen bases to bring the team number to 106, tying the 1991 squad for the most in a single season in program history.
Sophomore John O'Reilly (Northvale, N.J.) (1-5) earned his first win of the year with just one earned run allowed in a career-high-tying seven innings pitched. Having left with a lead three times previously, the right-hander scattered eight hits and struck out three in a career-high 114-pitch outing that featured 13 outs on the ground. Redshirt junior Max Herrmann (Rutherford, N.J.) followed with a perfect eighth inning and held the lead in the ninth to close out the victory.
Rutgers jumped on top in the first with one run to take the lead. Devish started the game with a double and moved up to third on a grounder hit by junior Mike Carter (Bloomfield, N.J.). Next up, Suseck collected an RBI with a grounder of his own. Another came across in the second when fifth-year senior John Jennings (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) connected for a leadoff double, ran to third on an advancing grounder by freshman Luke Bowerbank (Bernardsville, N.J.) and crossed on a single through the right side by Freeman.
Maryland tied it up with an unearned run in the second and a two-out single in the third, but the Scarlet Knights came back with two in the fifth to grab the lead once again. Freeman took first on a misplayed pop fly in the infield and moved up on a groundout. The Terrapins elected to intentionally walk Devish with two outs to bring up Martinez, who earned a walk to load the bases. In the next at bat, Suseck worked the count full before drawing ball four to force home Freeman. Marcinczyk capped the rally with an infield single to make it 4-2.
After O'Reilly stranded the potential tying runs on, RU added two insurance runs in the seventh inning on Martinez' big fly. Devish preceded by singling up the middle, as Martinez laced an 0-2 pitch over the wall in left-center.
O'Reilly finished his day with a clean seventh inning and Rutgers tacked on a run right after. Freshman Jawuan Harris (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a leadoff bunt single that was thrown away. The outfielder advanced all to third on the play. One batter later, Bowerbank connected for an RBI single to center.
The Terrapins did not go quietly in the ninth, with Kevin Smith hitting a three-run home run to cut it to a two-run game. The hosts did bring up the tying run with one out, but Herrmann collected two fly balls to quell the situation.
Taylor Bloom (6-4) took the loss for Maryland with six earned runs and nine hits permitted over seven innings on the mound. Smith led all players in the game with four RBIs, but the team left 12 on base altogether.
The Scarlet Knights will next go for their first Big Ten sweep in the series finale set for Sunday at noon. The game will air live on Big Ten Network.
NOTES
RU has now played 22 games decided by two runs or less … the offense reached double-digit hits for the 19th time this season and left just five on base … Devish scored three runs in a game for the third time, leading the Big Ten with 54 overall … the Scarlet Knights have used just two innings out of the bullpen so far in the series … RU improved to 15-1 when scoring at least seven runs in a game … the game lasted two hours, 39 minutes.
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