PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Returning home on a sunny 73-degree day in New Jersey, Rutgers baseball posted a 15-4 victory over Columbia Tuesday at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights improved to 17-9 against non-conference opponents, 10-5 at Bainton Field and 23-18 overall. The triumph marked the 118
th for head coach
Joe Litterio as RU skipper, matching George M. Case (1950-60) for the third-most wins in program history.
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The bats rebounded to post 18 hits, with 11 different players marking the column in the box score. Sophomore
Kevin Welsh, redshirt freshman
Dan DiGeorgio and redshirt sophomore
Kevin Blum all collected three hits, while junior
Carmen Sclafani had two. For Blum, he totaled a career-high four RBIs and junior
Nick Matera added three to take over the team lead at 32 for the season. In addition, freshman
Aaron McLaughlin notched a two-run single for his first collegiate hit.
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On the mound, sophomore
Eric Reardon (3-2) dealt five innings with two hits and one run allowed to pick up his third victory of the season. The left-hander has permitted just two earned runs in his last 11.2 innings of work. Sophomore
Kyle Gerace followed up by collecting four outs without surrendering a run. Freshman
Dylan McNulty and redshirt junior
Ryan Wares also registered scoreless outings from the bullpen.
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The Scarlet Knights attacked quickly with a run in the bottom of the first. DiGeorgio reached on catcher's interference with one out, stole second, advanced to third on an error and scored on a grounder by Matera.
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Then the second, the lead expanded to 6-0 after five crossed on five hits, all with two outs. Senior
Milo Freeman started it with a walk. Welsh followed with a single, as Blum came through with an RBI single up the middle. After Blum stole second to put two in scoring position, freshman
Mike Nyisztor chased both home on a single through the left side. Continuing, DiGeorgio also singled and was involved in a double steal with Nyisztor. The two scored when Matera struck the fifth consecutive single that forced out Columbia's starter.
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The third inning saw Sclafani tack on another by singling, stealing second, moving up on an error and running in on a sacrifice fly by Blum. That made it 7-0, but the Lions (16-26) dented the scoreboard with one in the fifth. Responding right away, junior
Jawuan Harris picked up a single and swiped two bases to bring his career total to 80, five short of the school record. He scored on an infield single by Blum.
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Rutgers exploded once again with another five-spot in the sixth to put the game away. DiGeorgio scored for the third time on a double play, with Sclafani bringing in one on an infield single and Freeman and Welsh both striking for run-scoring triples. Blum added his fourth RBI on a single up the middle.
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Senior
Kyle Walker and freshman
Anthony DeRosa capped the RU scoring in the seventh by touching home on the single by McLaughlin. RU totaled 12 RBIs with two outs in the game to bring the season number in the situation to 103.
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Timmy Post (2-3) took the loss for Columbia.
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The Scarlet Knights return to Bainton Field for six of their final nine games on the Big Ten schedule, starting Friday at 3 p.m. versus No. 13 Michigan.
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