Box Score

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Senior Howie Brey (Middletown, N.J.) pitched his fourth Big Ten complete game of the season and freshman Luke Bowerbank (Bernardsville, N.J.) knocked in three runs to spark Rutgers baseball to a 5-4 road win in the series opener against Maryland at Smith Stadium. It was the first conference game between the teams and first meeting overall since 1953.

RU won its sixth opener in the last seven series to improve to 24-25 on the season and 7-12 in the Big Ten. The seven wins match last year's total in league play. UMD dropped to 25-23 and 10-9.



Allowing runs in just two frames, Brey (6-4) went all nine for the fourth time in seven Big Ten starts this season and struck out a career-high 10 batters. The left-hander scattered seven hits and walked three, but stranded seven on base in the 129-pitch outing. He is now fourth in program history with 284.2 career innings pitched, fourth with 200 strikeouts and tied for eighth with 18 victories.

At the plate, Bowerbank collected his first career three-hit game with two singles and a double. He knocked in the first run for the Scarlet Knights in the second and later gave the team a lead it would not relinquish with a two-run hit in the seventh. Senior R.J. Devish (Beachwood, N.J.) also had a productive game by reaching four times via two singles, a walk and a hit by pitch to raise his on-base percentage to a Big Ten-best .531. Junior Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) drove in the tying run on two hits, while junior Mike Carter (Bloomfield, N.J.), fifth-year senior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) and sophomore Milo Freeman (Millburn, N.J.) all had multiple trips to the base paths. Rutgers totaled 11 hits, drew five walks and absorbed two pitches in the game.

Down a run in the seventh, the Scarlet Knights batted around to score three runs and take a 5-3 lead. Devish was hit by a pitch to start, as Carter and Suseck both drew a walk to load the bases. Next up, Marcinczyk lined an RBI single to tie the game despite having two strikes on him. The Terrapins managed to strike out the next two, but Bowerbank came through on a full count with the go-ahead hit by rocketing a two-run single to the opposite field.

Kevin Smith connected for a solo home run to make it a one-run game in the eighth, but Brey sat down the next three to keep the lead. He then came back to the mound in the ninth and finished out the win with a strikeout, infield pop and fly ball. Brey now has eight career complete games and five versus Big Ten opponents.

Preseason All-America selection Mike Shawaryn took the mound for Maryland and gave up two runs and eight hits in a five-inning start. The Terrapins used four relievers, with Andrew Green (2-1) suffering the loss. The hosts were held to 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-8 with two outs at the plate.

After each side left runners in scoring position in the first, the Scarlet Knights broke through for one run in the second to take an early lead. Fifth-year senior John Jennings (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) started the inning with a double to center on an 0-2 pitch and came home right away when Bowerbank stroked an RBI single to left.

Brey struck out the side in the third and RU added another run in the next half inning. Bowerbank led off with a leadoff double, but stood put after two outs. Devish then came up and connected for an RBI single to right to make it 2-0.

However, Maryland rallied for three runs on three hits in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. The third run scored on a safety squeeze play. The game would stay that way until the seventh-inning outburst by Rutgers, which followed a four-pitch inning by Brey in the preceding frame.

RU will go for the series win in game two set for Saturday. The game time was adjusted to noon due to the threat of inclement weather forecasted later in the day.

NOTES
RU has now played 14 games decided by one run … Brey became the first Scarlet Knight with four complete games in a season since Jack Egbert had five in 2004 … he leads the Big Ten with 93.2 innings pitched this season, which ranks tied for the 10th-most worked in a season in school history … Brey has the fourth-most strikeouts in a season in the program record books at 78 … the left-hander has not allowed a stolen base in 180.2 innings dating back to 2014 … five of his 10 strikeouts were looking, as his previous career-high mark was nine overall was set in the opening game of the 2015 season at Miami … the offense put the leadoff hitter on in seven of the nine innings … the team reached double-digit hits for the 18th time and improved to 17-1 when having more hits than the opponent … RU won for the third time when trailing after six innings ... Suseck and Marcinczyk each stole a base to raise the team total to 104, two shy of the program record for swipes in a season … Bowerbank is hitting 12-for-26 (.462) since entering the starting lineup eight games ago … the game lasted two hours, 53 minutes.

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