HOUSTON – Propelled by four hitless innings by Brian Fitzpatrick, Rutgers baseball (1-0) pitched a shutout on Opening Day to beat Houston Baptist (0-1) Friday at Husky Field, 4-0. The Scarlet Knights last started a season with a shutout win in 1978.
 
"We got a good start from Fitz, he controlled the game very well and had a bunch of strikeouts," head coach Steve Owens said. "And then Sam (Bello) came in after the long fifth inning, Fitz was on a pitch count, and got us into the ninth. Great pitching out of some tough spots, including the double rundown in the fifth. It feels good to get a win on Opening Day and we look forward to tomorrow."
 
Last starting on the mound on March 3, 2019, Fitzpatrick retired the first seven faced before hitting a batter and walking one. The only other runner to reach for the Huskies was on a wild pitch strikeout, as the left-hander sat down 12-of-14 in four hitless frames with seven strikeouts.
 
"Fitz really went to another level in the offseason," Owens said. "He became a more complete pitcher with his repertoire, conditioning and execution. A 6-7 lefty attacking the strike zone with three pitches is tough to score on."
 
Sam Bello entered in the fifth and saw the leadoff hitter reach second on an error, but then started a rare 1-6-5-4 double play that began with a rundown between second and third. After Chris Brito made the tag for the out, he flipped to Joshua Kuroda-Grauer covering second for the twin killing. Bello later stranded four runners over the next three innings, logging a career-high 4.1 innings for the win. Dale Stanavich closed it out by inducing a 6-4-3 double play. Rutgers held HBU to three hits in the game, the first coming with one out in the sixth inning.
 
The Scarlet Knights posted 11 hits spread out amongst eight players, with multiple-hit performance by Mike Nyisztor, Nick Cimillo and Evan Sleight. Ryan Lasko scored a pair of runs with one knocked in, while Cimillo and Tony Santa Maria collected RBIs in their RU debuts.
 
"Offensively, I thought we swung the bats well, a really tough day with the wind blowing in," Owens said. "We did have some hard contact, but never put together the big inning. They made some plays and did not walk anyone."
 
Daxton Tinker took the loss for Houston Baptist with three earned runs against in 4.2 innings.


 

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UP NEXT

Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
 
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