NEW ORLEANS – Rutgers baseball broke through for 13 hits offensively and pitched 6.2 scoreless innings of relief, including 4.1 from freshman Brian Fitzpatrick, to top Chicago State, 6-2, Sunday at Maestri Field. Coupled with the 3-2 Friday win over Butler, the Scarlet Knights finished play with two wins in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Baseball Classic hosted by the University of New Orleans.
 
"Pitching and defense wins games," head coach Joe Litterio said. "The pen came in and shut it down today. It makes it easier for us on offense, and we were able to expand the lead. You always want to come away from a weekend with a winning record. We were able to do that. But in some ways, I think we are better than how we are playing right now."
 
Fitzpatrick (1-0) earned his first collegiate win with seven strikeouts and only two hits allowed in the extended relief outing. Junior Eric Reardon and redshirt junior Tommy Genuario both retired the two batters they faced, with senior Serafino Brito striking out two in a perfect ninth. Freshman Garrett French made his first start and worked 2.1 innings.
 
"Brian came in and pounded the zone," Litterio said. "That's what we want the pitchers to do and it was great to see."
 
Offensively, all nine RU (2-4) starters picked up at least one hit and six different players recorded an RBI. Sophomore Mike Nyisztor, freshman Chris Brito, senior Carmen Sclafani, freshman Alex Russo and redshirt junior Kevin Blum all reached multiple times in the balanced attack.

VICTORY! #RBaseball tops Chicago State, 6-2. Fitzpatrick earns first collegiate win with 4.1 scoreless innings of relief & bats break through for 13 hits.

Scarlet Knights finish with 2-1 weekend in New Orleans. pic.twitter.com/5exHiS32u7

— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) February 24, 2019

 The Cougars (0-5) scored first on an RBI single by Patrick Arndt in the second, but the Scarlet Knights quickly matched in the next half inning. Blum reached on an infield error after forcing a quick throw with his speed, scoring two batters later on a two-out RBI double up the middle by Nyisztor.
 
Chicago State picked up another in the third and threatened for more with a runner at third and one out. However, Fitzpatrick entered from the bullpen and picked up a strikeout and fly ball to strand the inherited runner. RU used the momentum to plate two in the fourth. Senior Luke Bowerbank started the rally with a single to center, stole second and ran home on an RBI triple by Sclafani. Freshman Peter Serruto followed with a single up the middle to put Rutgers on top, 3-2.
 
Fitzpatrick kept the lead with scoreless frames in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
 
Rutgers collected an insurance run in the seventh. Junior Kevin Welsh beat out an infield hit and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Nyisztor. Next up, redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi connected for an RBI single to center field to make it 4-2.
 
CSU put runners at first and third in the bottom of the seventh. Reardon then entered and induced a ground ball to leave the tying runs on base. Then in the eighth, both Russo (double) and Blum (single) connected for two-out RBI hits to expand the advantage, 6-2.
 
Brito locked down the ninth, as the RU pitching staff permitted only four hits and struck out 12. The defense did not commit an error.
 
Brett Gregory (0-1) pitched seven innings with three earned runs permitted for Chicago State. It was the first all-time meeting between the Scarlet Knights and Cougars.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers is scheduled to play its home opener Tuesday versus Wagner. The game time is set for 2 p.m. The next weekend series will start Friday at Old Dominion.

Celebrating the win with some New Orleans jambalaya! pic.twitter.com/cLWFpmD9Qz

— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) February 24, 2019

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding baseball, follow the program on Twitter (@RutgersBaseball), Instagram (@rutgersbaseball) and Facebook (/BaseballRU). For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.