PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball plated a season-high 17 runs and four pitchers combined to spin a three-hit shutout in a 17-0 victory against Saint Peter's Wednesday at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights won for the fourth time in five games to move to 22-15, matching the season high at seven games over .500.
In a balanced offensive attack, 10 different players recorded a hit, nine scored and eight drove in at least one run. Fifth-year senior
Chris Folinusz collected a team-best four RBIs, while junior
Carmen Sclafani touched home five times, including a home run. Freshman
Mike Nyisztor had three hits from the leadoff spot in the order, as Sclafani, Folinusz, senior
Kyle Walker, sophomore
Kevin Welsh and junior
Luke Bowerbank also enjoyed multiple-hit performances. It was the ninth time this season that the Scarlet Knights reached double-digit runs in a game and the 17 hits marked the 21
st time with 10 or more hits.
Sophomore
Eric Reardon (2-2) earned the win on the mound by logging a career-high six innings with only two hits and one walk allowed. The left-hander retired 18 of the last 20 batters faced. Junior
Kevin Romero followed in relief with a perfect frame in his first outing of the season. In the eighth, freshman
Dylan McNulty made his collegiate debut and sat down the side in order capped by a strikeout. Sophomore
Tevin Murray closed out the ninth, as the three hits permitted were a season low for the staff. In addition, it was the second shutout to pair with the 1-0 triumph over Penn State on March 24.
After Reardon dealt a perfect second inning, the Scarlet Knights broke through for three runs with two down in the bottom half. Sclafani reached on an error to start and stole second. Two outs followed, but redshirt freshman
Dan DiGeorgio kept the inning alive with a walk. That brought up Welsh, who delivered an RBI single to score Sclafani for the first run. Bowerbank was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Nyisztor connected for a two-run single up the middle.
Two more came home in the third via a sacrifice fly by Folinusz and an RBI single to right field from Bowerbank.
That led to the fourth when Rutgers sent 15 batters to the plate to total 11 runs on eight hits and one error, with each member of the order scoring at least once. Junior
Nick Matera and Sclafani started it off with a couple of one-out walks before Walker, Folinusz, DiGeorgio and Welsh all connected for RBI hits to make it 8-0. Bowerbank and Nyisztor would then single to juice the bases for Harris, who crushed a three-run double off the left field wall. A dropped pop fly and a two-run triple by Folinusz culminated the outburst with a score of 16-0.
It was the second time this season the Scarlet Knights plated at least 10 in an inning this year, also happening with a 10-spot at Illinois on April 13. Before that, the team had last put up double digits in a frame with 11 versus Georgetown in 2013.
Sclafani finished off the scoring by blasting a solo homer to right-center in the sixth inning, his second in as many games to that spot. He now has three long balls on the season. Worth noting, he became the first Scarlet Knight with five runs in a contest since Michael Lang had six at FIU on March 13, 2010.
Freshmen
Anthony DeRosa picked up his first collegiate hit in the sixth, while classmate
Aaron McLaughlin made his debut and drew a walk. The 17-0 score was the largest margin of victory in a shutout since 20-0 at Princeton on May 6, 2003.
Steve Epstein (0-6) suffered the loss for Saint Peter's (0-30). The Scarlet Knights now lead the all-time series, 23-2.
Rutgers will travel to Purdue this weekend for a three-game series starting Friday at 6 p.m. The Saturday game, also at 6 p.m., will broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
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