Maryland
Rutgers
Rutgers Edges Terps, 7-5
5/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Sophomore Kevin Smith hit his second home run in as many days and tallied four RBI, but the Maryland baseball team fell, 7-5, to Rutgers at Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium Saturday afternoon.
The Terrapins (25-24, 10-9 Big Ten) fell behind 7-2 after eight innings before staging a furious ninth inning rally that fell just short. Four Terps recorded multi-hit games.
Rutgers plated single runs in the first and second before the Terps opened their account in the bottom half of the second. Sophomore Kevin Biondic reached base and advanced to second on a throwing error before coming in to score when sophomore Justin Morris floated a double that fell inside the right field line.
Maryland tied the game in the third. Senior Anthony Papio walked and moved all the way to third on a pair of ground outs before Smith singled through the left side to make the score 2-1.
Rutgers took control of the game with two, two-out runs in the fifth and a two-run homer off the bat of Mike Martinez in the seventh. The Scarlet Knights added another run in the eighth to take a 7-2 lead.
Maryland threatened in the bottom half of the fifth, loading the bases with two outs before Andrew Bechtold grounded out to end the inning. Sophomore RHP Taylor Bloom went seven innings for Maryland in the loss.
The Terps attempted to rally back in the ninth. After freshman Marty Costes walked, freshman Nick Dunn legged out an infield single. Smith then launched a three-run homer to make the score 7-5. It was the eighth home run for Smith, surpassing his total from last season.
Junior Madison Nickens followed with a double to bring the tying run to the plate. After Biondic sent a long fly ball that was tracked down on the warning track, sophomore Jamal Wade flew out to end the game.
Bechtold extended his reached base streak to eight games. Smith is now tied for the team lead in home runs (8) and second in RBI (32).
Maryland returns to action Sunday for its final home game of the season. First pitch is scheduled for noon and the game can be seen live on BTN and heard live on the Maryland Baseball Network.
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