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Maryland baseball heads to Rutgers for weekend series

Writer's picture: Ahmed GhafirAhmed Ghafir

After a key series win at home against Illinois, Maryland baseball returns to the road this weekend to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. It has been a strange season in Piscataway but a series loss for the Terps could put their Big Ten Tournament hopes in peril. Here is a preview for the weekend. Where We Are: Maryland The Terps won 13-8 at Towson on Tuesday, powered by a three-home run third inning, their first one since April of last year. Nate Haberthier and Andrew Johnson pitched well out of the bullpen and combined to go the last 7.2 innings. Maryland scored five times in the eighth inning to break an 8-8 tie and hold on for the win. Matt Swope's bunch is currently tenth in the Big Ten standings, trailing Ohio State and Michigan State by a half-game for the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament. Maryland's RPI going into the weekend is 40, good for second in the Big Ten. Rutgers The Scarlet Knights' overall record sits at 25-19, but their Big Ten record is a lowly 3-12. They have played very well against non-conference opponents going 22-7, but have not been able to win conference games this season and sit second to last in the Big Ten standings. Rutgers is coming off of an 8-4 win at Princeton, but has not won a Big Ten game since April 14, as they have dropped their last six, getting swept by Iowa and Indiana. Rutgers' RPI ranking is 54 entering the series. Series Schedule Friday - 6:00 - Logan Koester (4-5, 6.46 ERA) vs Justin Sinibaldi (4-2, 3.19 ERA) Conference play has been a struggle for Logan Koester and all told, the Terps might either slot him to Sunday or move him to the bullpen. But with nothing confirmed, Koester should still be in line to start Friday night. Koester had a better outing in terms of runs allowed giving up just three to Illinois, but it took him 92 pitches to throw four innings. Before that, he allowed at least five earned runs in each of the previous four starts. Sinibaldi has been the normal Friday night starter for Rutgers this season. The lefty from Bridgewater, New Jersey has thrown eight innings three times this season  He went six and thirds in his last start against Indiana but allowed seven runs to the Hoosiers as well. Prior to that, however, he had allowed no more than two runs in five consecutive starts including a complete game shutout against UConn. Saturday - 12:00 - Omar Melendez (3-1, 5.71 ERA) vs Christian Coppola (4-5, 7.63 ERA) Melendez has been slotted into the rotation after starting the season in the bullpen and has made three starts all in conference play. Two of them were not great, while one was very solid. His last start was a clunker against Illinois, allowing five runs and not making it out of the third inning. He'll look for a start similar to the one he had at Nebraska when he allowed just two over six. Coppola is looking to bounce back from a rough start against Indiana lasting just four outs and allowing five runs on just two hits. He had allowed three runs in his previous three starts, all against Big Ten competition. He had an excellent freshman season last year going 5-5 in 13 starts with a 3.68 ERA, and was named a D1 Baseball Freshman All-American. Sunday - 1:00 - Joey McMannis (1-1, 5.00 ERA) vs TBD McMannis finally earned his first collegiate win last week against the Illini as the Terps held on for an 11-7 win to take the series. He has been steady for the Terps this season and has provided some major stability for the rotation as a freshman. After getting touched up pretty good by Nebraska, McMannis responded nicely last weekend against Illinois allowing three runs over six innings. His ERA of 5, looks a little misleading, as his start against Nebraska accounts for two runs of it. Rutgers has not announced a Sunday starter. Hitters to Watch Maryland Sam Hojnar is scorching hot for the Terps. He has multi home runs in consecutive games for Maryland, and had nine home runs in the month of April, while hitting .360 and knocking in 28 runs. Michael Iannazzo has been swinging a good bat for Maryland as well lately, and fell a homer short of the cycle on Tuesday against Towson. Additionally, Chris Hacopian homered for Maryland on Tuesday, and Devin Russell has a home run in two of Maryland's last three games. Rutgers Shortstop Josh Kuroda-Grauer is having quite the season for Rutgers. The sophomore from Somerset, NJ is hitting .432 with an OPS of 1.125. He was a 2023 Brooks Wallace Award Semifinalist and a 2022 All-Big Ten Third Team recipient. Former Iona Gael, Tony Santa Maria is also hitting the ball well with average of .345, 11 home runs and 45 RBIs. The infield depth continues with second baseman Cameron Love. The senior from Staten Island had two hits on Tuesday against Princeton and has an OPS of .859. All three games can be streamed on Big Ten Plus. All Maryland Baseball games are available to listen to for free on the Maryland Baseball Network. Related Links

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