WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Rutgers baseball was unable to dig out of an early deficit in a 9-4 defeat Saturday at Purdue. The contest aired live on Big Ten Network.
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The Scarlet Knights (22-17, 6-8) picked up 10 hits at the plate, with junior
Nick Matera, fifth-year senior
Chris Folinusz and redshirt freshman
Dan DiGeorgio each collecting two. Matera drove in a pair to raise his season total to 29 RBIs, which matches the team lead. Junior
Tyler McNamara and sophomore
Kevin Welsh also knocked in runs. For Welsh, he became the seventh different player in the lineup to reach 20 RBIs this season.
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Redshirt sophomore
Tommy Genuario pitched a career-high four innings of relief with two runs permitted. He has surrendered just those two runs in his last 13.2 innings. Sophomore
Tevin Murray contributed one scoreless innings out of the bullpen and punched out two.
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Purdue (23-16, 9-4) took the early lead with three runs in the first, two scoring after an error. Two more then came across in the second to put the home team up five.
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RU scratched back with one in the third when junior
Jawuan Harris walked and came all the way around from first on a double to the left field corner by Matera. It was Matera's 12
th double of the season. However, Purdue added two more in the fourth to build a 7-1 advantage.
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Genuario would keep it there through the middle innings, finishing his outing with three strikeouts.
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In the seventh, junior
Luke Bowerbank singled and freshman
Mike Nyisztor walked. Matera then went against the shift with two outs for his second RBI of the night. The Boilermakers answered with two in the bottom half to make it 9-2.
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Rutgers continued to chip back in the eighth after recording four consecutive hits to begin the inning. Folinusz started it with a single before DiGeorgio advanced him on another single. McNamara and Welsh followed with RBI hits of their own. The Scarlet Knights went down in order in the ninth.
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Gareth Stroh (5-2) earned the win by pitching 6.1 innings with two runs allowed. Freshman
Harry Rutkowski (4-4) took the loss.
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The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 11 a.m. from Alexander Field.
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