The Maryland Terrapins (30-18, 9-11) were silenced by the pitching of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (26-20, 4-13) in a 2-1 loss from Bianton Field in the first half of a doubleheader.

The Scarlet Knights nearly took advantage of Joey McMannis early.

Maryland’s starter struggled with his command in the bottom of the first inning. After starting the game with a strikeout of Johnny Volpe, McMannis walked Josh Kuroda-Grauer and Ty Doucette to put runners on first and second for Rutgers. A passed ball then put two runners in scoring position for the Scarlet Knights, but McMannis locked in, forcing a groundout of Pete Durocher to escape the inning unscathed.

Maryland did not squander their opportunity in the top of the second.

Donovan Zsak experienced similar command issues to Joey McMannis, walking Jacob Orr and Kevin Keister before hitting Alex Calarco with a pitch to load the bases for the Terps. Elijah Lambros brought home the first run of the afternoon when he drew a walk on a full count, putting Maryland up 1-0.

That long top of the second did Zsak in. The Scarlet Knights’ starter would only get one more inning, making his final line one run on one hit with three walks, one hit batter and three K’s in three innings.

McMannis stayed clutch when the Scarlet Knights threatened in the third.

McMannis began the inning with a walk to Johnny Volpe, already his fourth of the outing. Alex Calarco gave him a helping help for that one though, as the Terps’ catcher would throw out Volpe on a steal attempt. However, getting that runner out did not deter Rutgers.

Josh Kuroda-Grauer smacked a one-out single into right field, then sprinted to second base on Alex Calarco’s second passed ball. An infield single from Ty Doucette pushed Kuroda-Grauer to third, but McMannis escaped yet another jam. The freshman struck out Tony Santa Maria, then got Pete Durocher to line out to center field.

McMannis’ luck ran out in the fourth.

Trevor Cohen and Cameron Love began the inning with back-to-back singles, then advanced to second and third base on a sacrifice bunt from Jordan Sweeney. For a minute it seemed like McMannis might escape his third jam of the afternoon when he got JD Jones to pop up to first base, but Johnny Volpe picked up a two-run single to give Rutgers the lead.

Josh Kuroda-Grauer followed with a single of his own and that was enough for Matt Swope to pull the plug on McMannis. Maryland’s right-hander finished with two runs on six hits, four walks and four strikeouts in 3.2 innings.

Maryland almost responded in the fifth with some small ball of their own.

Alex Calarco and Elijah Lambros each singled against Scarlet Knights’ reliever Sonny Fauci, then Eddie Hacopian walked to load the bases for the Terps with no outs. But maybe McMannis’ clutch performance transferred to Fauci, as Rutgers’ pitcher shut down the heart of Maryland’s order.

Fauci struck out Chris Hacopian, forced Sam Hojnar into an infield fly and then fully defused the situation when Brayden Martin grounded out to short. The Scarlet Knights maintained their 2-1 lead.

The Terps had a similar experience in the sixth.

After beginning the inning with runners on first and second, an unlucky double play for Michael Iannazzo put a runner on third with two outs for Alex Calarco. Maryland’s catcher went down swinging, making the Terps 0-7 with a runner in scoring position.

That was the last inning for Sonny Fauci. Rutgers’ righty pitched three scoreless innings, surrendering three hits and two walks to the Terps’ offense.

Not lost amid Maryland’s offensive struggles was the stellar pitching of Evan Smith. 

The freshman southpaw only gave up two hits and one walk in 4.1 innings. He allowed no runs and struck out three Scarlet Knights.

Unfortunately for him, it was just not the right afternoon to be a Terrapin batter. Rutgers reliever Joe Mazza silenced the Maryland offense to end the day, pitching perfect seventh and eighth innings. Alex Calarco gave the Terps a glimmer of hope with a two-out single in the top of the ninth, but Mazza forced Elijah Lambros to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the game.

The series rubber match will take place at 3:15 in the second half of the doubleheader.