Maryland baseball squeaks past Rutgers, 4-3

Tied at two in the fifth, Nick Lorusso walked up to the plate for Maryland baseball, looking to put the Terps ahead over Rutgers.

Lorusso did just that in game one of the series, delivering a three-run home run in the seventh to push the Terps in front in their 6-4 victory.

And the senior third baseman did it again on Saturday. 

On the third pitch of his at bat, Lorusso sent a blast to right center, giving the Terps the lead — one they didn’t relinquish.

Maryland (19-11, 4-1 B1G) used Lorusso’s homer to squeak past Rutgers (15-15, 1-4 B1G) 4-3 in game two of the series, securing its second straight Big Ten series win to open up conference play. 

Right-hander Nick Dean got the start for Maryland, throwing six quality innings for the Terps. Dean allowed two runs and four hits, striking out five in the process.

“Nick Dean was unbelievable today,” coach Rob Vaughn said. “It was just a really well pitched game really on both sides…I thought our pitching was absolutely outstanding today.”

After throwing five scoreless innings last time out, Dean put together another good outing. After allowing at least four runs in five-straight games, the senior has seemed to settle in.

“Me and [Luke] Shliger just got on the same page through the entire thing and we did a really good job of executing,” Dean said.

The first two innings were a pitching duel, as neither side recorded a hit. 

But then Rutgers struck in the top of the third when freshman designated hitter Maximus Martin delivered a leadoff triple to right field. Junior first baseman Jordan Sweeney brought Martin home with a sac fly to left field, putting the Scarlet Knights up 1-0.

The Terps could not respond in the bottom half of the inning as sophomore center fielder Elijah Lambros was stranded on base after a leadoff single. 

Maryland got into scoring position for the first time of the day in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an Eddie Hacopian walk and a Bobby Zmarzlak single. But the Terps could not capitalize with two outs, as junior second baseman Kevin Keister grounded out the next at bat, ending the inning.

Rutgers extended its lead the next inning after Martin launched a deep shot over the center field wall for his fifth home run of the season, giving the Scarlet Knights a two-run cushion. 

That two-run lead didn’t last long.

With one on and one out, sophomore designated hitter Zach Martin sent a two-run homer over the right field wall, tying the game at two. In just his second start and fourth appearance of the season, Martin provided the Terps a much leaded blast.

“What makes this game awesome is young kids that work and get their opportunity and take advantage of it,” Vaughn said. “I can’t say enough about how proud I am of him with that.”

After hitting junior catcher Luke Shliger the following at bat, Rutgers freshman right-hander Christian Coppola was pulled for sophomore left-hander Joe Mazza. Coppola pitched 4.1 innings in his start, striking out four while allowing four hits. 

The pitching change did not deter the Terps, as Lorusso crushed his team-leading 13th home run over the right centerfield wall as the first Terp to face Mazza, pushing Maryland in front 3-2.

The home run extended Lorusso’s hitting streak to 29 games.

The Terps had a chance to tack on more runs following the homer, loading the bases with two outs. But Keister grounded out to shortstop, putting an end to the three-run inning.

Rutgers couldn’t respond to the flurry of Maryland scoring, posting a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the sixth, the final inning for Dean as he got pulled for fifth-year right-hander Kenny Lippman at the top of the seventh. 

Lippman held the Knights hitless throughout the next two innings, recording two strikeouts in the process.

The Terps added another insurance run in the eighth to extend the lead to two, as Lambros brought Zmarzlak home on a one-out sac fly. 

Lambros finished the game 2-2 from the plate, adding a run, an RBI and a walk.

The game wasn’t over yet though, as junior left fielder Evan Sleight launched his eighth home run on the leadoff for Rutgers in the ninth. Redshirt junior right-hander David Falco Jr. came in and closed out the game, securing the series win ahead of game three on Sunday. 

First pitch for Sunday’s game is scheduled for 12 p.m., with freshman left-hander Kyle McCoy slated to take the mound for the Terps.