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.
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"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."
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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.
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RU has received a start of at least five innings in 12 of the last 13 games.
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"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."
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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.
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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.
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SCORING
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UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights return the road to face Michigan in a Big Ten series starting Friday at 6 p.m.
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