PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball (13-19, 5-4) finished off its first Big Ten weekend sweep by pitching a one-hit shutout against Michigan State in an 8-0 Sunday victory at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights are on a five-game winning streak, including four consecutive conference games, and have won seven of their last nine.
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"We did everything well this weekend," head coach
Joe Litterio said. "We had a great start on the mound each day, played solid defense and came through with timely hits. The team played with great confidence."
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Junior
Tevin Murray earned the win with a career-high nine strikeouts over six innings. The left-hander started the outing with 5.2 hitless innings before the Spartans recorded a double for their only hit of the day. All three RU starting pitchers went six frames this weekend with a combined three earned runs permitted for a 1.50 ERA.
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"Tevin filled up the zone today," Litterio said. "He's tough to see and tough to hit. He kept them off balance all day."
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Freshman
Garrett French, junior
Steven Acosta and senior
Serafino Brito all dealt a perfect inning of relief to close out the victory. Acosta and Brito appeared in all three games against MSU, combining to allow one run in 6.1 innings.
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Offensively, the Scarlet Knights posted three in the second, four in the fourth and another in the seventh for the eight runs. Sophomore
Mike Nyisztor went 3-for-4 with a walk to spark the lineup as the leadoff hitter, while senior
Tyler McNamara had two hits and two RBIs. The hitters totaled 10 hits and walked eight times.
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"Sweeping a Big Ten team just tells us that we can do it," Litterio said. "We have to keep getting better, it's a process. We played solid baseball this weekend and to get the sweep is a first. We don't want it to be the last. There's a long way to go."
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SCORING
- The Scarlet Knights rallied for three runs in the second to take the lead. Freshman Victor Valderrama drew a full-count walk to start the inning, with senior Luke Bowerbank singling on a hit-and-run to put runners at the corners. After a strikeout, junior Kevin Blum hit a double to make it five RBIs in his last four games. Nyisztor and junior Kevin Welsh both walked to force in a second run and coerce a Michigan State pitching change. Redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
- In the fourth, Rutgers added four more runs to expand it to a seven-run lead. Nyisztor hit a one-out bunt single, stole second, Welsh walked and Dezzi walked to load the bases. McNamara then connected for a two-run single through the left side. Valderrama would later knock in another on an error, as Bowerbank hit a run-scoring fly ball.
- Senior Carmen Sclafani, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, struck a pinch-hit double in the seventh, with junior Anthony Greco crossing on a pair of wild pitches as a pinch runner.
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NOTES
- Rutgers last swept a league series in the American Athletic Conference against USF from May 9-11, 2014 at Bainton Field. The team did sweep Army last season over spring break in a non-conference set.
- Rutgers has won five games in a row for the first time since taking the first six to start the spring break trip last season.
- Rutgers last pitched a one-hitter on May 4, 2004 when Chris Rini (six innings) and OJ DeChristofano (three innings) combined to beat Lafayette, 1-0.
- Rutgers is now is 5-1 against Michigan State in the last six meetings after losing the previous six in Big Ten play.
- Rutgers has won four consecutive Big Ten games for the first time since joining the conference in 2015.
- This marked Rutgers' first shutout of the season, first since April 25, 2018 versus St. Peter's (17-0) and third overall in Big Ten play. The other two came against Penn State.
- Michigan State was held to just two plate appearances with a runner in scoring position in the game (walk, strikeout).
- Dezzi extended his hitting streak to eight games and Nyisztor has been on base in each of the last 13 games.
- Acosta has pitched in 10 of the last 11 games.
- The game-time temperature was 67 degrees and the contest lasted two hours, 52 minutes.
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UP NEXT
Rutgers continues its seven-game homestand Wednesday versus Hofstra at 3 p.m. The next Big Ten series starts Friday against Purdue.
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