PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball split Saturday's doubleheader with Maryland, winning the first game 2-1 before dropping the finale 6-4.

The Scarlet Knights (26-21, 4-14) received a great bullpen in effort in game one, but the Terrapins (31-18, 10-11) used a pair of three-run innings to win the finale and clinch the series. 

Game 1 Recap

Donovan Zsak started the first game of the doubleheader for Rutgers. After a clean first inning, a bases-loaded walk gave Maryland a 1-0 lead in the second. 

The Scarlet Knights responded with two runs to take the lead in the fourth. After back-to-back singles from Trevor Cohen and Cameron Love to start the frame, Jordan Sweeney bunted them over to second and third. Johnny Volpe then delivered the big hit of the game, a two-out, two-run single to give RU the 2-1 lead. 

After three strong innings from Zsak, Sonny Fauci took over in the fourth and threw three scoreless innings. He allowed three hits, while striking out three and walking two, bridging the gap to the late innings. 

Joe Mazza delivered his biggest outing in a Rutgers uniform, picking up a three-inning save to secure the win. He allowed just one single and picked up a strikeout with no walks, earning his first save of the season. 

Game 2 Recap

After Jake Marshall retired the first nine batters of the game, Maryland took the lead with three runs in the third, scoring on a wild pitch, passed ball and infield single. 

Tony Santa Maria got Rutgers on the board with a solo home run in the fourth to make it 3-1. Volpe delivered another big hit the fifth, tying the game at 3-3 with a two-run double. 

The Terrapins took the lead with another three-spot in the top of the sixth, using a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and two-run double to jump out to a 6-3 advantage. 

While RU was able to get a run back on a balk in the seventh, that was all for the offense. 

Jordan Falco had a strong outing in relief, coming in with traffic in the sixth and retiring all 11 batters he faced to close out the game.

Rutgers will return to action next weekend at Penn State, with game one set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday night.

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