PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Down 7-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, Rutgers baseball (12-12) scored five, including a grand slam by Evan Sleight, and posted two more in the ninth to complete a come-from-behind, walk-off win over Iowa (15-10) Sunday at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights snapped the Hawkeyes' seven-game winning streak.
 
"It's been a tough weekend for us, we blew a lead on Friday and yesterday were pitched tough," head coach Steve Owens said. "Today didn't start the way we wanted it, but the guys hung in there. We've been preaching to play nine innings and 27 outs. They did a good job of battling. Jared settled the ship on the mound and we got a big hit from Evan to shift the momentum. It was a good way to end the weekend."
 
Sleight recorded a career-high six RBIs with an run-scoring single in the fourth, a grand slam in the eighth and a game-tying hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the ninth. He is up to three homers on the season, crushing two of Rutgers' six grand slams in 2021.
 
In the ninth needing one to tie, Mike Nyisztor led off with a single before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt from Richie Schiekofer. Ryan Lasko was hit by a pitch and Chris Brito singled to load the bases for Sleight, who was hit by an 0-2 breaking ball to force in Nyisztor. Danny DiGeorgio recorded the game-winning RBI on a booted groundball to third base, giving the Scarlet Knights their second walk-off victory of the season.
 
Lasko reached 4-of-5 times with two hits, a walk and a hit by pitch to score three runs. Brito and Schiekofer joined Lasko and Sleight with multipleh-hit performances. RU went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
 
On the mound, Jared Bellissimo pitched a season-high 4.1 innings of shutout long relief to prevent the deficit from growing higher than six runs. Aaron Winkler picked up two outs, with Eric Reardon dealing 1.2 scoreless frames to allow the offense to mount a late comeback.
 
Iowa was held to only two hits and an unearned run in the final six innings of play.

The Scarlet Knights return to action Friday at Michigan to start a three-game series.
 
"Our guys have played hard all season," Owens said. "We're 12-12 just starting the second half of the schedule. This is a tough league. I'm proud of the accomplishments so far, but there's a lot of work to do."
 
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