In the words of Willie Nelson, the Terps are “on the road again.” 

For the third time in four weekends Maryland (29-17, 8-10) is hitting the road for a conference series, this time heading north on I-95 for a three-game set against Rutgers (25-19, 3-12) in Piscataway. 

Unlike their previous weekends though, the Terps seem to have found a spark. 

After scuffling throughout much of April, Maryland closed the month by winning four of five and taking a series off Big Ten front-runners Illinois. 

More recently, the Terps battled back from a daunting deficit this past Tuesday at Towson, thanks to a five-run eighth inning delivered by the middle of the order. Sam Hojnar logged another multi-homer game, while Michael Iannazzo stayed hot with a 3-hit, 3-RBI day.

With a second Big Ten series victory under their belt and momentum from the midweek, let’s take a look at the Rutgers squad that the Terps will be squaring off against this weekend. 

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (25-19, 3-12 Big Ten)

Last Season

Rutgers played to a very respectable 33-23 overall record in 2023 and had a similarly solid conference campaign which saw them finish 14-10 in Big Ten play. The Scarlet Knights’ record was good enough to lock up the fifth seed in last season’s Big Ten tournament, but they were bounced following two tight losses against Nebraska and Michigan State. 

Maryland played host to Rutgers in early April last season. The Terps took the first two games of that series by a combined score of 10-7 before the Scarlet Knights broke out in the Sunday game for a 14-8 win. 

This Season

The Scarlet Knights’ current winning percentage isn’t much lower than its final clip last season, but Rutgers’ 2024 season has followed a much different path than its 2023.

In the previous campaign, the Scarlet Knights were plagued by several poor showings in the non-conference. This time around, however, Rutgers lost just one weekend series before opening up Big Ten play and despite losing both games, put together a respectable showing in a two-game set at North Carolina (currently sixth in RPI).   

When Rutgers began conference play they sat at 18-7, but have since fallen to 25-19 overall due much in part to a 3-12 showing in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights have won just one of their five conference series—the one ironically coming against third-place Nebraska—and have been swept three times.  

Hitters to Watch

Take a peek at the Scarlet Knights’ offensive stat sheet from this season and there is one name that stands out more than any other: Josh Kuroda-Grauer.

The shortstop has shuffled through the top few spots in Rutgers’ lineup this season and has done nothing but rake. His .432 batting average leads qualifying Scarlet Knights hitters by 83 points, and his 1.125 OPS is bolstered by a .502 OBP.   

The lone knock against Kuroda-Grauer’s game comes in the power department. Despite his eye-popping numbers, the junior has slugged just five home runs this season, and 55 of his 79 hits on the year have been base hits.

Power numbers aside though, Kuroda-Grauer has been a nuisance for opposing pitchers and defenses this season—he’s also 20-22 in stolen base attempts—and is sure to be a handful for the Terps this weekend.

The other two plus–1.000 OPS hitters in the Rutgers order are Tony Santa Maria and Ty Douchette, who also lead the Scarlet Knights in home runs this season (11 and 8 respectively). 

Pitchers to Watch

As a whole, the Rutgers pitching staff has been very underwhelming this season. The Scarlet Knights have just one pitcher (qualified and not qualified) who owns a sub-four ERA. 

The starting rotation has also been somewhat of a revolving door, with nine different guys starting games throughout the season. 

As expected though, Rutgers’ most effective arm is Friday-night starter Justin Sinibaldi. The senior’s 3.19 ERA isn’t extraordinary, but Sinibaldi has given the Scarlet Knight immense length this season. Sinibaldi averages around 6.2 IP per start, and his 73.1 total innings pitched lead the team by almost 30.   

Once again, the Rutgers bullpen hasn’t been phenomenal but Ben Gorski and Joey DeChiaro have both been solid in high-leverage situations. DeChiro leads the Scarlet Knights in saves, with five. 

Probable Starters

Friday: Logan Koester vs. Justin Sinibaldi

Saturday: Omar Melendez vs. TBD 

Sunday: Joey McMannis vs. Christian Coppola