UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Rutgers baseball team (15-6, 1-1) split its Friday doubleheader at Penn State (8-12, 1-1) to open up Big Ten play 1-1. After defeating the Nittany Lions 6-4 in the first game, the Scarlet Knights fell 8-6 in the nightcap.
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The series finale will be Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Â and streamed on Big Ten+.
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GAME 1 RECAP
Rutgers got off to a quick start in the first game, with
Ryan Lasko leading off with a single. He would score later in the inning on a
Nick Cimillo sacrifice fly. Penn State would answer with 4 runs over the next three innings to take a 4-1 lead.
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The Scarlet Knights were unfazed, scoring 5 unanswered runs to take a 6-4 lead.
Dale Stanavich slammed the door shut with a five-out save, his fifth of the season.
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Jared Kollar got the start for Rutgers and worked through some trouble to fight through 5.1 innings. After the Nittany Lions homered to take a 4-1 lead in the third inning, Kollar would go on to retire seven of the next eight batters to finish off 5.1 innings of work. He allowed 4 runs, striking out five and walking one.
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"Jared was able to stay out there and get through it a little bit. Then we got some big hits.
Ryan Lasko had a really good day.
Nick Cimillo had a big hit. And then Dale was able to close it down for us," head coach
Steve Owens said of the game. "These are tough games, Big Ten games. It was a tough win."
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Sam Bello would come in to relieve Kollar in the sixth, getting the last two outs of the frame. Bello would total 2.0 scoreless innings of relief, before making way with one out in the eight for Stanavich.
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- T1 | Ryan Lasko leads off the game with a single, steals second, advances to third on a wild pitch and scores on a Nick Cimillo sacrifice fly. RU 1-0.
- B1 | Billy Gerlott triples to start off the bottom of the first and scores on a Jonny Piacentino single. Tie 1-1.
- B3 | Derek Cease walks, advances to third on a single and scores on a sacrifice fly by Matt Wood. PSU 2-1.
- B3 | Josh Spiegel hits a two-run home run. PSU 4-1
- T4 | Jordan Sweeney hits an infield single with the bases loaded, scoring Chris Brito. PSU 4-2
- T5 | Evan Sleight blasts a solo home run over the right field wall. PSU 4-3
- T5 | Tony Santa Maria hits a double off the left field wall to score Richie Schiekofer and Nick Cimillo. RU 5-4
- T7 | With runners on the corners, Chris Brito grounds into a double play, allowing Evan Sleight to score from third. RU 6-4.
GAME 2 RECAP
In the second game, RU got out to another quick start, putting up 4 runs in the top of the first inning.
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Ben Gorski got the start in a game where the Scarlet Knights would need help from every arm available. He would make it through 2.1 innings, allowing 3 runs.
Justin Sinibaldi relieved him, tossing 1.2 scoreless frames.
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After Sinibaldi,
Kyle Muller and
Jayson Hoopes would each pitch an inning, each giving up 2 runs.
Nate McLain tossed a scoreless seventh, while
Sam Portnoy and
Jared Mazza combined for a 1-run ninth.
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For Penn State, two home runs by Jay Harry and 3 RBI from Matt Wood led them to a win in the second game and a split in the doubleheader.
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"We scored enough runs to win this game," Owens said of the second game "It's hard to win a doubleheader. We've already won two this season. Today, the other team took advantage of us making some mistakes on the mound. We knew there were going to be some runs scored. We just need to be better in all facets tomorrow."
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- T1 | Ryan Lasko leads off the game with a walk, goes to third on a Danny DiGeorgio single and scores on an Evan Sleight single. RU 1-0
- T1 | Nick Cimillo hits a double off the wall in center field to score Danny DiGeorgio and Evan Sleight. RU 3-0
- T1 | Tony Santa Maria singles the other way, scoring Nick Cimillo. RU 4-0
- B2 | Jay Harry hits a solo home run to right field. RU 4-1
- B3 | Matt Wood triples down the right field line to score Billy Gerlott. RU 4-2
- B3 | Josh Spiegel triples to left field, scoring Matt Wood. RU 4-3
- T4 | With runners on the corners, Danny DiGeorgio dropped a single into left field to score Garrett Callaghan. RU 5-3
- B5 | Jay Harry hits a 2-run home run to right field. Tie 5-5.
- T6 | Tony Santa Maria leads off with a double, goes to third on a groundout and scores on a wild pitch. RU 6-5
- B6 | Johnny Piacentino hits a sacrifice fly to deep left field, scoring CJ Pittaro. Tie 6-6
- B6 | Matt Wood lifts a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Billy Gerlott. PSU 7-6
- B8 | Matt Wood hits a sacrifice fly to score CJ Pittaro. PSU 8-6
The Scarlet Knights wrap up their series at Penn State tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., with the game being streamed via Big Ten+.
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"We need a really good start from
Nathan Florence tomorrow." Owens said. "He's got to step up like a 5
th year kid does and give us a chance to win
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