SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Down 7-6 entering the ninth inning, both freshman Chris Brito and senior Tyler McNamara came through with RBI singles to help Rutgers baseball come back and beat USC Upstate, 8-7, in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader at Harley Park. It was the second time this season picking up a win when trailing after eight.
 
"A sloppy game on both sides tonight," head coach Joe Litterio said. "They gave us some opportunities early on and we gave it back to them. It was great to see us come back after falling behind in the eighth. We were able to scrape out two in the ninth to win. Ugly game, but we stuck together. Baseball is a game of ups and downs and we have to learn how to persevere, not get too high or too low. We talked about that this week and I'm glad to see us fight to the end."
 
Sophomore Mike Nyisztor started the ninth-inning rally with a single through the right side. He went to second on a wild pitch with Brito at the plate, with Brito then singling through the left side to easily knock home Nyisztor and tie the game. Senior Carmen Sclafani laid down a sacrifice bunt before McNamara lined the go-ahead single to right-center.
 
Senior Serafino Brito (2-1) closed the door with a perfect ninth. The right-handed did not allow an earned run over 2.1 innings out of the bullpen in the game, striking out three. Junior Kyle Gerace retired the first nine in his first start of the season and logged 4.2 innings overall.
 
Both Nyisztor and redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi had two hits, while Brito added two walks to his RBI single. Junior Kevin Welsh notched a game-high three RBIs.
 
The Scarlet Knights (3-8) took the early lead in the second inning with a pair of runs. McNamara led off with a walk and Welsh advanced him to second with a sacrifice bunt. Next up, freshman Peter Serruto hit a grounder to third base that was thrown away to allow McNamara to score and Serruto to proceed all the way to third. Freshman Victor Valderrama hit a sacrifice fly after that.
 
In the third, Brito walked with two outs to keep the inning alive, with Dezzi singling and McNamara walking to load the bases. Welsh then connected for a two-run single to increase the lead to four. The advantage grew to 5-0 when redshirt junior Kevin Blum was hit by a pitch in the fourth, stole second and scored on an error.
 
The Spartans (6-8) scored two in the fourth and two in the fifth to make it a 5-4 game. Redshirt sophomore Kyle Muller entered in the fifth to strand an inherited runner at third. However, USC Upstate evened the game in the sixth and threatened for more before redshirt junior Tommy Genuario induced a 6-4-3 double play started by freshman David Soto to leave another runner at third.
 
RU took back the lead in the seventh when Dezzi boarded on a single, as Sclafani entered as a pinch runner. He immediately stole second and ran to third on a wild pitch. Welsh registered his third run batted in of the game by lifting a sacrifice fly to left field. The Spartans answered with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the inning to knot the game at six.
 
The home team temporarily took the lead on an error in the eighth before Rutgers responded with two in the ninth. Sean Hupp (1-1) took the loss for the Spartans in a game that saw a combined nine errors.
 
UP NEXT
The rubber game is set for Sunday at noon. Junior Tevin Murray is scheduled to start on the mound for the Scarlet Knights.


 
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