PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Freshman
Alex Russo scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 10
th inning to give Rutgers baseball a 2-1 victory in its home opener Wednesday at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights had previously played their first 12 games on the road.
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"It was good to play at home," head coach
Joe Litterio said. "The pitching staff pounded the zone, threw strikes and kept the score where it was. We weren't swinging the bats, but the pitchers did a nice job to pick up the win. It was a tight one throughout and we can learn from this game."
In a 1-1 tie, Monmouth (3-10) put runners at the corners with two outs in the 10
th inning. Johnny Zega then tapped a chopper down the third-base line, with senior
Serafino Brito hopping off the mound to field before firing an accurate throw to first for the third out.
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Sophomore
Mike Nyisztor led off the bottom half for Rutgers (4-9) with a single through the right side, but a foul out followed. Next up, freshman
Chris Brito hit a grounder to second base that went as a force out, as the throw to first strayed offline and permitted advancement to second. Russo entered as a pinch runner. With junior
Kevin Welsh at the plate, a pitch went low and was blocked in the batting circle. Russo immediately recognized and took third with heads-up baserunning to move 90 feet away. Ball four to Welsh went to the backstop and Russo crossed easily as the winning run.
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It was the first Rutgers game to go to extra innings at Bainton Field since May 5, 2015 versus Saint Peter's. The Scarlet Knights previously celebrated a walk-off win Feb. 22 as the home team in a neutral-site game against Butler in New Orleans.
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RU used seven pitchers to hold the Hawks to one run in 10 innings, striking out seven, walking one and stranding nine on base as a unit. Brito (3-1) earned the win with a staff-high 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to keep the game tied until the Scarlet Knights scored in the 10
th. Junior
Jack Parkinson went two shutout innings in his Bainton Field debut as the starter and redshirt junior
Steven Acosta, inducing a double play in the outing, followed with two scoreless frames as well. Junior
Tevin Murray contributed a perfect inning, redshirt sophomore
Kyle Muller picked up an out, redshirt junior
Tommy Genuario struck out two over 1.2 innings and freshman
Parker Scott retired two before Brito closed it out.
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Nyisztor went 3-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases to highlight the offensive production. Senior
Tyler McNamara added two hits and took an intentional walk.
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The Scarlet Knights scored in the first inning for the second-straight game. Nyisztor led off with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a pickoff error with one out. Brito then lifted a sacrifice fly for the RBI.
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The game stayed 1-0 until the sixth when Monmouth put together three hits to push across the tying run. Brito would strand five runners from the eighth inning on. Mason Miller (0-1) took the loss for the visitors despite not allowing an earned run.
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The Scarlet Knights have won the last four over the Hawks, with the last three all being decided by one run. In addition, RU has now won its past 11 home openers and 17 of the last 18.
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UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights head to Florida for seven games over spring break. The trip starts Friday with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch at Florida Gulf Coast.
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