JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Rutgers baseball (1-3) scored four in the first and five in the second on the way to a 14-3 victory at North Florida (2-2) Friday at Harmon Stadium. It was the first win for the Scarlet Knights under head coach
Steve Owens.
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"We were aggressive to strikes with a good approach," Owens said. "We put many quality at bats in a row together, which led to us scoring early and expanding late. Really good at bats today and a very good understanding of the strike zone. We had six walks and only three strikeouts, with five guys with multiple hits, four guys with multiple RBIs. A very good job throughout the lineup offensively.
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"Defensively, we took care of the baseball very well. There were some tough plays made on the infield and some nice plays in the outfield. Today was a really hard day to play, it was freezing cold and the wind was blowing 20-30 miles per hour straight in. I thought our guys were very prepared and played all aspects very well."
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Redshirt junior
Danny DiGeorgio moved up to the leadoff spot and posted a career-high four hits to spark the attack. Redshirt sophomore
Richie Schiekofer also had collegiate-bests with three hits, three runs and two RBIs, while sophomore
Chris Brito had his second three-hit game to go with two walks. Both junior
Sam Owens and junior
Peter Serruto collected two hits and two RBIs apiece. In addition, junior
Mike Nyisztor reached base four times on three walks and a single, scoring on three occasions.
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On the mound, junior
Harry Rutkowski (1-1) took advantage of the run support by retiring the first seven faced. The left-hander logged seven innings in the outing with two runs permitted and no walks. Freshman
Matt Ciccone worked the last two frames to close out the victory.
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"Harry had to sit and wait on a cold day, which is difficult, but he came back out and threw strikes," Owens said. "North Florida is a solid hitting team. He did what you're supposed to do with a lead, throw strikes and let the defense work."
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Logan Clayton (0-1) took the loss for the Ospreys with eight runs, six earned, allowed in an inning-plus.
- Rutgers posted four runs on four hits to take the early lead after a half inning. DiGeorgio and Owens both singled to set the table, with Nyisztor singling to make it 1-0. Schiekofer followed with a fourth-straight single to score Owens, as an error in the outfield allowed Nyisztor to also cross. Brito capped the rally with an RBI groundout.
- After Rutkowski dealt a 1-2-3 inning, the Scarlet Knights posted five more in the second. Serruto worked a leadoff walk before sophomore Victor Valderrama singled and DiGeorgio singled to load the bases. Next up, Owens laced a two-run double to right-center to force a pitching change. Nyisztor continued with a walk to reload the bases. A wild pitch allowed Nyisztor to score, while Schiekofer lifted a sacrifice fly. Serruto knocked home the fifth run of the frame on a two-out RBI single that made it 9-0.
- North Florida used a two-out RBI single in the third to get on the board, but RU matched in the top of the fourth. DiGeorgio connected for an RBI single up the middle to plate senior Kevin Welsh.
- The lead grew to 12-1 in the fifth. After Nyisztor walked, Schiekofer roped a double to right field that was misplayed to permit Nyisztor to come all the way around. Following a single by Brito to put runners at the corners, redshirt sophomore Tim Dezzi registered a run-scoring groundout.
- In the eighth, Schiekofer hit his first career triple and came in on a single up the middle from Brito. Serruto stepped up three batters later with two down and notched his second RBI of the night.
- The Ospreys scored one in the ninth to set the final at 14-3.
- Rutgers now leads the all-time series over North Florida, 3-2.
- Freshmen Grant Shulman and Jordan Sweeney recorded their first collegiate hits.
- The Scarlet Knights had 18 hits, the most since totaling 24 at Lafayette in 2017.
- Owens now holds 915 career wins, 13th-most among active coaches at the D1 level.
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Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. Listen on ScarletKnights.com.
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"All wins are special," Owens said. "You have to enjoy it when you win because it's hard to do. You don't take anything for granted. As you get older, you learn to enjoy it when you win. It was good to see our team play well in all aspects."
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