WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –
Harry Rutkowski pitched an efficient 8.1 innings to match his career high and
Ryan Lasko blasted two early homers to lead Rutgers baseball (7-5) to a 7-5 Friday win over Purdue (2-10) at Alexander Field. The Scarlet Knights have won five of their last seven games.
Â
Rutkowski lowered his ERA to 2.84 with one earned run charged against. Until an inherited runner against crossed in the ninth inning, he had pitched 15 consecutive innings without permitting an earned run. The left-hander needed only 89 pitches to record 25 outs, with 17 in the air, and allowed just three hits and two walks. Rutkowski previously went 8.1 innings in 2018 as a freshman versus La Salle.
Â
"Harry was ahead of hitters all day," head coach
Steve Owens said. "He got a lot of early swings that led to easy outs. Some balls were hit hard, but a lot of them weren't. He really commanded the game and kept his pitch count low. Coming off a short week with over 100 pitches against Ohio State, we didn't want him to go that high today. Friday is the hardest game of the week to pitch and Harry brings a lot of intensity, does a great job in that role for us."
Â
Offensively,
Ryan Lasko went deep to left field in the first and third innings for his first career multiple-homer game, adding a single and a walk to reach 4-of-5 times with three RBIs. He is up to three dingers on the season, as the Scarlet Knight pace the Big Ten with 22 in 2021.
Evan Sleight also posted a three-hit performance with a pair of two-out RBI singles.
Chris Brito tacked on his conference-leading 19
th RBI of the season, while
Jordan Sweeney returned to the lineup with a sacrifice fly and walk. RU went 3-for-7 with runners in scoring position and had six hits with two outs.
Â
"Ryan's approach today was incredible because he hit the right pitches," Owens said. "He hit the zone breaking pitch and then they tried to come in on him with a fastball. It was a tremendous performance from him, and we needed it.
Â
"Today was one of our more complete games offensively. We scored with homers, a sac fly, two-out singles and with two strikes. We were able to keep expanding the lead."
Â
Trent Johnson took the loss for Purdue with six runs allowed in five innings. The Scarlet Knights now lead the all-time series over the Boilermakers, 8-7.
Â
- Lasko crushed a solo homer as the second batter of the game to put Rutgers up in the first inning.
- In the third, Josh Rodriguez drew a one-out walk and Lasko followed with his second homer of the game, also to left field. Richie Schiekofer (hit by pitch) and Sweeney (walk) both reached with two down for Sleight, who produced an RBI single up the middle to make it 4-0.
- Purdue pushed across an unearned run in the fourth.
- The Scarlet Knights responded with a pair of runs in the fifth. After Brito was hit by a pitch with one out, Schiekofer doubled to left-center to put two in scoring position. Sweeney then lifted a sacrifice fly and Sleight followed with his second two-out RBI single.
- The lead increased to 7-1 when Brito connected for an infield single to bring home Rodriguez in the sixth.
- Cam Thompson hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning for Purdue to cut it to 7-5. Kyle Muller picked up a looking strikeout the following hitter to prevent the tying run from coming to bat and seal the win.
Â
Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. Watch on Big Ten Network+ or listen on ScarletKnights.com.
Â
Follow Rutgers Athletics on
Facebook and Twitter
(@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding baseball, follow the program on Twitter (
@RutgersBaseball), Instagram
(@rutgersbaseball) and Facebook (
/BaseballRU). For additional updates, please download the Scarlet Knights App via the
app store or
play store.
