April 29, 2016 Box Score
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Down to its final strike in the bottom of the ninth inning, Rutgers baseball took advantage of a wild play to beat Nebraska, 3-2, in the series opener Friday at Bainton Field. It was the first walk-off win for the Scarlet Knights this season.
Winning for the sixth time in seven games, RU moved to 22-20 for the season, 13-5 in April and 6-7 in the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers suffered their fifth-straight conference loss to fall to 7-6 in league play and 26-16 overall.
Rutgers had two outs and no one on in the ninth when freshman Luke Bowerbank (Bernardsville, N.J.) struck a single up the middle to keep the game alive. Next up, senior R.J. Devish (Beachwood, N.J.) worked a walk on a full count to bring up junior Christian Campbell (Sayreville, N.J.). He fell behind in the count, but managed to chop an infield single to third base that was fielded and thrown down the right field line for an error. Bowerbank easily scored on the play, as Devish dashed all the way from first and slid in headfirst to the plate just ahead of the tag.
It was the second consecutive win for the Scarlet Knights when trailing after seven innings and first walk-off winner since May 5, 2015 versus Saint Peter's. RU also improved to 13-2 at Bainton Field this year.
Senior Howie Brey (Middletown, N.J.) kept Rutgers in striking distance with two runs permitted over an eight-inning start. The left-hander scattered five hits and struck out five in the 124-pitch outing. He is pitching to a 2.40 ERA in five Big Ten starts this season, working 41.1 innings. Swooping in from the bullpen, junior Ryan Fleming (Churchville, Pa.) (4-0) collected his seventh career victory by working a scoreless ninth inning. He has not permitted an earned run in his last 12 appearances to accumulate a 0.87 ERA.
Offensively, Rutgers was held to seven hits, but drew six walks. Campbell and fifth-year senior John Jennings (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) each had two singles, while junior Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) walked three times. Devish walked two times, drove in a run and scored his Big Ten-leading 45th run of the season to win the game.
Making their first trip to Bainton Field, Nebraska broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the top of the third. The rally featured a walk, single, double and sacrifice fly.
The Scarlet Knights cut into the deficit with one run in the fifth. Junior Gaby Rosa (Perth Amboy, N.J.) laid down a bunt single that was thrown away to allow advancement to second. Following an out, he moved up to third on a passed ball and ran home when Devish grounded out to shortstop with the infield back.
That would be all the scoring until the bottom of the ninth, as Brey had a stretch of retiring 13 batters in a row. He ended his start by stranding two on in the eighth. Fleming struck out one and started a double play to allow Rutgers to make a comeback in the bottom of the last.
Chad Luensmann (1-2) suffered the loss for the visitors, but was not charged with an earned run due to the throwing error. Starter Derek Burkamper left in line to win with no earned runs permitted over seven innings. NU was held to five hits offensively.
The Scarlet Knights will look for the series win Saturday, which will now be a doubleheader due to inclement weather forecasted for Sunday. First pitch will be at noon.
NOTES
Rutgers beat Nebraska for the first time in four tries … RU has now played 20 games decided by two or less runs and 13 one-run games this season … the team has won 18 of its last 21 at Bainton Field dating back to 2015 … Marcinczyk stole a base to bring the team total to 95, second-most in a season in school history … Brey is now fourth in school history with 188 career strikeouts and fifth with 271.1 innings pitched … he has not allowed a stolen base in 167.1 innings, the longest streak in the nation … the defense has not made an error in three-straight games … Fleming was the victorious pitcher for the third-straight RU win, becoming the first Scarlet Knight since Sean Atchinson in 2003 to do that ... the Scarlet Knights have won their last five series openers, doing that for the first time since winning seven in a row between the end of 2007 and beginning of 2008 ... the game lasted two hours, 18 minutes.
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