FORT MYERS, Fla. – Rutgers baseball climbed out of an early four-run hole and plated six in the seventh inning to capture its fifth consecutive win on spring break, a 13-9 triumph at No. 27 Florida Gulf Coast in the Friday series opener. It was second victory over a ranked opponent for the Scarlet Knights this year and fourth time overcoming a deficit of three or more on the road.
 
RU is now 10-6 on the season, reaching 10 wins in the least amount of games since the 2001 team did it in 13 outings. The last five-game winning streak for the program took place in May 2014 and the last such streak to occur in March was in 2010.
 
Junior Luke Bowerbank reached all five trips the plate with four singles and a walk, scoring four times to spark the offensive output. The outfielder is hitting 12-for-19 (.632) on the road trip so far. Following at the ninth spot in the order, redshirt sophomore Kevin Blum also boarded five different instances on three singles, a walk and an error, adding three runs. Freshman Mike Nyisztor collected four RBIs to raise his team-leading season number to 17, while redshirt freshman Dan DiGeorgio drove in three. The Scarlet Knights recorded double-digit runs for the fifth time this season and totaled 12 hits to collect nine or more in 13 of the last 14 games.
 
On the mound, freshman Collin Kiernan (3-1) picked up the win for third time in as many appearances. He enticed a double play ball that kept the game tied before RU went ahead for good in the seventh. Senior John O'Reilly made his 40^th career start to tie for third most in program history and did not walk a batter, posting a zero in four of his five innings of work. Redshirt junior Ryan Wares settled the game down late with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief before junior Serafino Brito escaped a bases-loaded jam to seal the win.
 
With the game tied at six entering the seventh inning, Rutgers took control with six runs, including three after two were down. Senior Kyle Walker started it off with a one-out hit by pitch, with sophomore Kevin Welsh and senior Milo Freeman both drawing walks to load the bases. Bowerbank then jumped on the first pitch for his fourth hit of the night to give RU the lead. Blum next took a five-pitch walk to bring in Welsh and DiGeorgio put the ball in play for an RBI groundout. Up after that, Nyisztor roped a two-run single to left, as junior Nick Matera followed with an RBI double to cap the outburst.
 
The Eagles cut into the six-run game with a three-run double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Wares ended further damage with a fly out. That led to RU adding one for insurance in the eighth to make it 13-9. Walker singled, Bowerbank walked and Blum reached on error for DiGeorgio, who was drilled by a pitch.
 
Brito faced bases loaded and no out in the ninth, but found the zone with a strikeout and double play to finish off the contest. The right-hander leads the staff with nine appearances in 2018.
 
Florida Gulf (13-4) fell to 9-2 at home this season and racked up 17 hits, but left 12 on base and committed four errors. Bryan Wilcox (1-1) suffered the loss out of the bullpen.
 
After each side went down scoreless in the first two innings, the Scarlet Knights scored first for the seventh-straight game with a pair in the third. Bowerbank and Blum both singled in their first at bats of the night to start the rally. DiGeorgio then drove a single of his own through the right side to allow Bowerbank to cross. Nyisztor would hit a fielder's choice for an RBI to make it 2-0.
 
However, the Eagles strung together six runs on seven hits in the bottom of the third to take a four-run lead. O'Reilly responded with two scoreless frames after that to keep RU within striking distance.
 
The Scarlet Knights chipped away at the deficit with three in the fifth. Bowerbank and Blum started the action once again with singles, with DiGeorgio laying down a sacrifice bunt that was thrown away. Bowerbank scored on the play. An error followed to permit fifth-year senior Chris Folinusz to lift a sacrifice fly. DiGeorgio came home after that on a third misplay in the inning.
 
In the sixth, the eight-nine duo of Bowerbank and Blum combined for singles for the third time. DiGeorgio then walked to load the bases for Nyisztor, who generated a sacrifice fly to even the game at six. Kiernan would take over a two-on, one-out situation in the bottom half and induced a 6-4-3 double play to build momentum heading into the decisive seventh-inning rally.
 
RU will seek its third consecutive weekend series win on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. at Swanson Stadium. Freshman Harry Rutkowski will make the start.
 
NOTES
Rutgers evened the all-time series at Florida Gulf Coast, 4-4 … Matera has reached base safely in all 16 games this season … Walker extended his hitting streak to 12 games … the other ranked win this season came at then-No. 9 Miami on Feb. 18 … the game lasted a season-long four hours, 15 minutes … the temperature at first pitch was 73 degrees.
 
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