PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball (12-19, 4-4) evened its Big Ten record by scoring five runs in the first inning on the way to a 6-3 Saturday victory versus Michigan State (8-24, 0-7) at Bainton Field. Coupled with Friday's 4-2 win, the Scarlet Knights clinch the weekend series and have won four games in a row and six of their last eight.
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"We came out swinging the bats early," head coach
Joe Litterio said. "There were some big two-out hits. That's something we've been preaching and the guys have been working on. The five-spot gave us breathing room and allowed Tommy to settle in and pitch his game."
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Junior
Tommy Genuario earned the win on the mound with a career-high seven strikeouts over six innings. The right-hander started the outing with five shutout frames and let one run in in the sixth to lower his season ERA to 2.97. In the first inning, the Spartans picked up three hits, but freshman
Peter Serruto caught Bryce Kelley, the Big Ten stolen bases leader, and Genuario recorded a strikeout with runners at the corners to deny any runs.
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Junior
Steven Acosta, pitching for the ninth time in 10 games, followed with one run permitted in an inning, with freshman
Parker Scott picking up a pair of outs in the eighth. Senior
Serafino Brito came on after a pair of errors and locked down a four-out save. He now has six saves on the season and 11 in his career, ranked tied for seventh in school history.
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At the plate, RU notched 10 hits, with redshirt freshman
Tim Dezzi, freshman
Victor Valderrama, junior
Kevin Blum and Serruto all collecting two apiece. Serruto and Blum both had two-out RBI hits in the first inning.
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Mitchell Tyranski took the loss for MSU with 10 strikeouts and two earned runs permitted over seven innings. The Spartans had 12 hits, but stranded 12 runners on base.
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SCORING
- The Scarlet Knights posted five runs on five hits and two errors in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Mike Nyisztor and Dezzi both singled to start the inning to put runners at the corners, with freshman Chris Brito hitting an RBI groundout. A fly ball went down as the second out, but junior Kevin Welsh walked to keep the inning alive. Valderrama then reached on a double error (fielding, throwing) at shortstop, which allowed Dezzi to score and put two in scoring position. Next up, Serruto roped a two-run single to make it 4-0. After freshman David Soto singled, Blum hit another RBI single to cap the five-run rally.
- The Spartans hit a pair of doubles in the sixth to get on the board.
- RU answered the tally in the bottom of the sixth. Valderrama led off with a double, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Serruto and crossed on a wild pitch.
- Michigan State used a one-out RBI single in the seventh to make it 6-2. However, Acosta stranded two on to keep the lead.
- In the ninth, MSU plated one on a two-out wild pitch before Brito induced a comebacker to end the game.
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NOTES
- Rutgers is 4-1 against Michigan State in the last five meetings after losing the previous six in Big Ten play.
- Brito has now stranded 16-of-22 inherited runners this season.
- Dezzi extended his hitting streak to seven games and Nyisztor has been on base in each of the last 12 games.
- Rutgers held Michigan State to 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
- The game-time temperature was 72 degrees and the contest lasted two hours, 48 minutes.
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UP NEXT
The series finale is set for Sunday at noon. Junior
Tevin Murray is set to start on the mound for the Scarlet Knights.
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"It's great to clinch the series, but we are taking it game by game," Litterio said. "Just like today coming in after a win, we know each game is a different challenge. We took care of business winning the series at home and need to come in tomorrow ready to go."
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