COLLEGE PARK, MD — The No. 23 Maryland baseball team won its first Big Ten series of the year on Sunday, with home runs from Kevin Keister and Nick Lorusso and a dominant start from Jason Savacool powering the Terrapins to a 7-2 victory in their rubber game against Penn State.

Savacool went seven innings and recorded 13 strikeouts, his second-highest total of the season. He gave up a run on five hits in a 96-pitch outing. Andrew Johnson, Matt Orlando and Nigel Belgrave got the Terps threw the eighth and ninth, surrendering just a single earned run.

Maryland improved to 22-6, continuing its best start in program history. Penn State fell to 10-15.

Breaking Down The Action

• Maryland opened the scoring in the bottom of the 1st, when Luke Shliger scored on a Nick Lorusso sac fly.
• Penn State answered and knotted the game at one in the next frame on a solo shot from Cole Bartels.
• Kevin Keister launched an opposite-field blast over the right-field wall in the bottom of the 2nd inning. It was the sophomore's third home run of the season.
• Maryland broke the game open on a two-out rally in the bottom of the 4th, starting with Luke Shliger scoring Bobby Zmarzlak on an infield hit.
• Nick Lorusso blasted a 3-run homer that gave the Terps a 7-1 lead.
• Penn State got one back in the top of the eighth on an RBI groundout.

Notable Numbers 

• 13: Savacool had 13 strikeouts. He started the game striking out nine of the first 11 batters he faced.
• 3: Keister hit his third home run of the season with an opposite-field shot that put Maryland ahead, 3-1.
• 28: Lorusso extended his on-base streak to 28.

Up Next

• Maryland is back in action on Tuesday for a midweek game against George Mason.
• It starts at 6:30 p.m. and will air on Big Ten Plus.