Box Score

PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Capped by a go-ahead double by sophomore Christian Campbell (Sayreville, N.J.) in the eighth inning, Rutgers baseball scored three unanswered runs to beat Minnesota, 6-5, Sunday at Bainton Field. The victory gave the Scarlet Knights their second Big Ten series win in three weeks.

On the mound, sophomore Max Herrmann (Rutherford, N.J.) (2-2) allowed RU to make its comeback with three scoreless frames out of the bullpen. The left-hander permitted one hit and two walks in earning his fifth career win. Following up, senior Jon Young (Old Bridge, N.J.) surrendered a single and hit a batter, but collected a pair of fly outs to go with a strikeout to earn his first save of the season. Sophomore starter Gaby Rosa (Perth Amboy, N.J.) took a no-decision after striking out four over five innings.

Campbell added a single to his go-ahead double to bring him to 4-for-8 over the final two games of the weekend. Four others had an RBI Sunday, with sophomore Mike Carter (Bloomfield, N.J.) reaching base three times on the day. It was the first win this year when trailing after the sixth inning.

Down 5-3 in the sixth, Rutgers started its rally with one out when junior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) singled and stole second. Then after a groundout and pitching change, sophomore Chris Folinusz (Cranford, N.J.) delivered a sharp RBI single to right field to make it a one-run game.

In the seventh, Carter, senior Joe D'Annunzio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and sophomore Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) all walked with one out to load the bases. Senior Vinny Zarrillo (Forked River, N.J.) fell behind in the count 1-2, but produced a deep ball to center field for a sacrifice fly to even the game.

Herrmann ran into trouble with two on and one out in the eighth. However, the reliever battled back to induce a ground ball to Suseck at second base, who flipped to junior shortstop John Jennings (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) for the inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

That momentum carried into the bottom half of the frame, as junior R.J. Devish (Beachwood, N.J.) reached on an error and Folinusz bunted him to second. Campbell next stepped up and laced the second pitch of his at bat down inside the third base line for the eventual game-winning hit.

Young threw 23 pitches in the ninth, but stranded two on base to improve RU to 5-4 in the Big Ten and 10-19 overall.

Despite allowing an unearned run, Ty McDevitt (0-2) suffered the loss for the Golden Gophers (10-17, 2-7). Starter Tim Shannon took a no-decision with four runs permitted over 5.2 innings.

It was Minnesota that jumped up with one in the first, but the Scarlet Knights answered quickly. Carter drew a leadoff walk and D'Annunzio singled him to third. After a pickoff, Marcinczyk laced an RBI single to right field to extend his on-base streak to 23 games.

The teams traded runs again in the second inning. UM used a sacrifice fly to re-take the lead, but it would not last long. Devish was hit by a pitch to start and stole second, as Folinusz walked. Down 0-2 in the count, Campbell used the element of surprise to lay down a bunt single to load the bases. Jennings then put the ball in play for an RBI fielder's choice. Next up, Carter singled to left to plate Folinusz to make it 3-2 in favor of the hosts.

That would be the last lead for Rutgers until the eighth, as the Gophers registered three runs with two outs between the fourth and fifth innings. Those runs would prove to be the final scores of the game for the visitors with the RU bullpen clamping down late.

Connor Schaefbauer led Minnesota with two hits and two RBIs on the day. The Golden Gophers tallied 11 hits, but left 11 runners on base.

Having completed a 10-game homestand, the Scarlet Knights will next hit the road to face Fordham Wednesday at 6 p.m. Big Ten play will resume Friday at Indiana.



NOTES
Young now has 10 career saves, ranked tied for eighth in school history ... Zarrillo led RU with 15 hits on the homestand, while Folinusz led in average at .381 (8-for-21) ... Marcinczyk has a slash line of .365/.467/.576 during his 23-game on-base streak ... Devish has now stolen eight bases in as many attempts this year ... RU has 15 steals in nine Big Ten games ... it was the first series between Rutgers and Minnesota in New Jersey, as the Scarlet Knights lead the all-time series, 5-4 ... all three games in the series lasted at least three hours ... RU has won four of its last five home series ... the game-time temperature was 63 degrees and the wind blew heavily from right to left.

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