PISCATAWAY, N.J. (May 8, 2022) -- The Rutgers baseball team slugged nine home runs and scored 26 runs on Sunday afternoon, splitting a doubleheader with No. 22 Maryland. The Scarlet Knights dropped the first game 16-8 before rebounding in a strong way with an 18-7 victory in the second game.

"We had two terrible starts today for this time of the year and the magnitude of these games," head coach Steve Owens said. "We got a little bit of offense going at the end of the first game. I thought we hit the ball hard the first game, we hit about eight balls to the warning track. But we weren't able to be in a position to use some of our better relievers to try to get back in the game. In the second game, our offense did a really good job."

Game 1 Recap
Maryland jumped out to an early lead, using a leadoff walk and RBI single to take a 1-0 lead in the first. In the second inning, the Terrapins strung together four two-out singles.to add 4 runs and extend their lead to 5-0. A two-run home run by Matt Shaw in the fourth made it 7-0 before home runs by Chris Alleyne and Troy Shreffler Jr made it 10-0 in the sixth. 

The Scarlet Knights got 2 runs back in the bottom of the sixth when Chris Brito launched his 12th home run of the season to center field. 

Maryland kept scoring runs, however, adding 2 in the seventh and another 2 in the eighth on a 2-run homer by Ian Petrutz. The Terrapins kept pouring it on, getting out to lead as big as 16-2. 

Richie Schiekofer, Chris Brito and Evan Sleight all hit home runs in the ninth inning for Rutgers, but it would be enough, as the Scarlet Knights would fall by a score of 16-8.

Game 2 Recap
Rutgers came out with a new energy in the second game of the twinbill, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a Brito RBI groundout and Sleight RBI single. 

The Scarlet Knights then took advantage of the wind gusting out to right field, as Ryan Lasko, Nick Cimillo and Danny DiGeorgio all hit home runs to center or right-center field in the second and third innings. RU continued to pour it on, taking a 13-4 lead through five innings.

Later in the game, Jordan Sweeney would blast an opposite-field home run to right-center before Lasko followed with his second home run of the game to right field. That shot was Lasko's seventh big fly in his last five games and put Rutgers up 18-7, which would hold as the final score.

"We're right back where we started this morning. We're in first place with a chance to win tomorrow."

Rutgers and Maryland will battle in out in the rubber match on Monday at 1 p.m. at Bainton Field.
 
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