March 4, 2017 Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. - Senior Tom Marcinczyk connected for a two-run home run in the sixth to give Rutgers baseball the lead, but Old Dominion rallied for five unanswered runs from there to win, 6-2, Saturday at the Bud Metheny Complex. The result sets up a Sunday rubber game after the Scarlet Knights won, 8-5, in the Friday opener.
Marcinczyk, who also homered Friday, now has three long balls this season and 15 in his career. The outfielder also singled to finish the day 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Junior Kyle Walker also reached twice on a single and a walk in three trips, as RU (3-6) totaled five hits overall.
On the mound, sophomore Serafino Brito (0-3) turned in a quality start by pitching 6.2 innings with three earned runs allowed. The right-hander also struck out four.
The Monarchs (7-2) scored first on a sacrifice fly in the second inning. The game would then lock into a pitcher's duel between Brito and ODU starter Adam Bainbridge. Both sides would post zeroes on the board until the sixth.
That was when Rutgers broke through on Marcinczyk's home run. Senior Mike Carter singled with one out before Marcinczyk blasted a 1-2 pitch over the wall in right field to the visitors up, 2-1.
However, Old Dominion rallied for two runs on four hits in the sixth, scored on a passed ball in the seventh and added two on a suicide squeeze in the eighth. The Scarlet Knights were unable to counter, as Morgan Maguire pitched the last two innings for the save. Bainbridge (3-0) picked up the win with five strikeouts in a seven-inning start.
The decisive game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.
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