Baseball Runs Past Iona, 7-3

Wednesday, April 24

Piscataway, N.J.

3:00 PM

Rutgers University

17-21

Iona

11-28

Iona

Rutgers

Photo by: Ben Solomon

Apr 24 | Baseball

Box Score Statistics

Parkinson earns first win as a Scarlet Knight

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball (17-21) scored seven runs in the first three innings to pull away early from Iona (11-28) in a 7-3 victory Wednesday at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights, also beating Columbia on the road Tuesday, won for the 11^th time in 15 games.

"We came out this week with a lot of innings to pitch and got through it pretty well," head coach Joe Litterio said. "Jumping out to a big lead again relaxed the guys on the mound and they pounded the zone. We were able to pick up these two midweek wins and build momentum for the weekend, which was great."

Junior Jack Parkinson made his first appearance of the month and turned in five innings with only one run allowed for his first win as a Scarlet Knight. The right-hander scattered three hits and struck out three in the season-long performance. Following up, junior Eric Reardon worked two hitless and scoreless frames of relief before sophomore Kyle Muller struck out a pair to leave two runners on base in the eighth inning. Sophomore Joe Neglia, pitching for the first time since April 16, 2017, collected the final three outs.

RU has received a start of at least five innings in 12 of the last 13 games.

"Jack has good stuff and filled up the zone today," Litterio said. "He pitched confidently and mixed his off-speed pitches with his fastball effectively."

Offensively, the Scarlet Knights scored first for the 11^th time in 12 games by plating three in the first, adding two in the second and two more in the third to build an early lead. Sophomore Mike Nyisztor extended his hitting streak to nine games and his on-base streak to 19 with a single and a walk, driving in two runs from the leadoff spot. Junior Kevin Welsh was on three times as one of eight players to record a hit. That included redshirt freshman Adam Holland, who picked up his first collegiate knock.

Iona entered the game winners of five of its previous six and scored one in the third and two in the ninth. The Gaels totaled six hits and committed three errors defensively. Six pitchers toed the rubber for the visitors.

SCORING

Rutgers, now 14-6 when scoring first, raced out to a 3-0 lead after one inning. Nyisztor started reaching on a two-base throwing error and Welsh immediately followed with an RBI single. After a caught stealing, redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi roped a single to left and ran home on a double off the wall in the left field by senior Tyler McNamara. McNamara advanced to third on the throw home, scoring on a groundout by Sclafani, his team-leading 25^th RBI this season.
In the second, freshman Victor Valderrama singled, senior Luke Bowerbank walked and junior Kevin Blum laid down a sacrifice bunt. Next up, Nyisztor laced a two-run single to right-center.
Iona cut the score to 5-1 in the third on an RBI double by Sam Punzi.
RU tacked on two more in the third. Sclafani lined a single and freshman Chris Brito walked, with a wild pitch advancing both. Valderrama lifted a sacrifice fly and another wild pitch made it 7-1.
The Gaels scored two runs on two hits and a walk in the ninth.

NOTES

Rutgers has now won five of the last six meetings with Iona and extended its lead in the all-time series to 29-6.
Rutgers improved to 10-4 at Bainton Field this season.
Rutgers is 11-1 this year when scoring six runs in a game.
The game lasted two hours and 52 minutes.

UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights return the road to face Michigan in a Big Ten series starting Friday at 6 p.m.

VICTORY! #RBaseball beats Iona, 7-3, to win for the 11th time in 15 games. pic.twitter.com/Moohte1p8q
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2019

First collegiate hit for Adam Holland!

B8 | Rutgers 7, Iona 1 pic.twitter.com/mqN1v5ZIkH
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2019

Blum makes a sliding catch to help Reardon deal a 1-2-3 inning!

B6 | Rutgers 7, Iona 1 pic.twitter.com/yCuqMXyCEt
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2019

Parkinson is through five! Sclafani makes a nice catch at third to end the inning.

B5 | Rutgers 7, Iona 1 pic.twitter.com/T798aTqpxp
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2019

Parkinson strikes out two and makes a play off the mound in a perfect fourth!

B4 | Rutgers 7, Iona 1 pic.twitter.com/gS8Xu9QAIw
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2019

Nyisztor stays hot! Extends hitting streak to nine games with a two-run single.

B2 | Rutgers 5, Iona 0 pic.twitter.com/umqzXhyK9l
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2019

Double! McNamara smacks one off the wall to drive in Dezzi from first.

B1 | Rutgers 2, Iona 0 pic.twitter.com/LyE7vEvkFu
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2019

Welsh rips an RBI single to score Nyisztor! Scarlet Knights score first for the 11th time in 12 games.

B1 | Rutgers 1, Iona 0 pic.twitter.com/Ta9w2uH1Rl
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2019

Held a moment of silence in honor of Harding Peterson prior to today's game.https://t.co/omq3QFWt6I pic.twitter.com/Eh3UdFyRf7
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 24, 2019

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