PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball (14-21, 6-5) had chances to tie the game in the seventh and eighth, but Purdue (14-21, 6-5) denied and added four insurance runs in the ninth in a 6-2 loss Saturday at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights had won their previous five Big Ten games. The result sets up a rubber game Sunday.
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"I was disappointed with our situational hitting," head coach
Joe Litterio said. "When you have opportunities to score a runner from third with less than two outs, you have to get the run in. Early in the year we struggled with that, and today it showed up again. Again, we have to get those runs in. There was a chance to take the lead early and maybe it's a different game. That's the disappointing part."
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On the mound, junior
Tommy Genuario started his outing with six scoreless innings before two unearned runs crossed in the seventh. He lowered his season ERA to 2.55. Freshman
Garrett French followed and left an inherited runner at third in two innings of relief.
Prior to the Boilermakers scoring the seventh, the Scarlet Knights had pitched 24 consecutive scoreless innings in league play.
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RU did not convert on its first five chances with a runner at third and less than two outs and went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The team loaded the bases down 2-0 with one out in the seventh and put the tying run at third with one out in the eighth. The Scarlet Knights also had a shot in the fifth to score first when freshman
Chris Brito singled, advanced on an error and moved up on a wild pitch. However, two strikeouts followed.
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Sophomore
Mike Nyisztor highlighted the lineup with two hits to extend his on-base streak to 16 games. Freshman
Victor Valderrama and Brito both reached twice as well.
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Trent Johnson struck out eight over six scoreless innings for Purdue, while Bo Hofstra collected the final eight outs for his fifth save of the season. He left five runners on base in the last three innings, as the Boilermakers totaled 13 strikeouts in the game.
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SCORING
- After six scoreless innings, Purdue used a walk and two errors on sacrifice bunts to take a 2-0 lead in the seventh. French came on with no out and a runner at third and picked up two strikeouts and a groundout to prevent further trouble.
- Rutgers closed it a 2-1 game in the bottom of the eighth. Junior Kevin Blum led off reaching on an error, racing to third on a single by Nyisztor. A wild pitch allowed Blum to score.
- The Boilermakers pushed across four runs with two outs in the ninth. Two came home on bases-loaded walks and Zac Fascia hit a two-run single.
- The Scarlet Knights plated one in the last of the ninth when Valderrama walked, stole second, advanced on a throwing error and came home on an RBI groundout by freshman Alex Russo.
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UP NEXT
The rubber game of the series is set for Sunday at 11 a.m. Junior
Tevin Murray is set to make the start on the mound for Rutgers.
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"We have to come out ready to go," Litterio said. "Today's game is over with and tomorrow's a new day. This is a different situation winning the first game and losing the second. We haven't been in that spot in the Big Ten yet this year. We have to come out tomorrow and make it happen."
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