LINCOLN, Neb. (April 10, 2022) – The Rutgers baseball team made a statement on Sunday afternoon at Haymarket Park, blowing out Nebraska 19-1 to complete a three-game sweep of the defending Big Ten champions and preseason favorites.
 
Rutgers smashed five home runs from Evan Sleight, Ryan Lasko, Danny DiGeorgio and Chris Brito (2) and used another strong effort on the mound from Justin Sinibaldi to sweep the Cornhuskers in Lincoln for the second straight season.
 
With the win, Rutgers now has its first 10-game winning streak since 2004.
 
The Scarlet Knight entered the season with two Big ten sweeps since joining the conference (Michigan State in 2019 and Nebraska in 2021). They now have two Big Ten sweeps in the last two weekends (Minnesota and Nebraska).
 
It had been 12 years since Nebraska had last been swept at home by a conference opponent (Missouri as Big 12 members in 2009) before Rutgers did so last season. RU has now done it two straight seasons and is the only Big Ten team to sweep the Cornhuskers at Haymarket Park since they joined the conference.
 
Ryan Lasko led off the game with a walk and would score on a home run by the next batter, Evan Sleight.
 
Lasko would hit a home run of his own in the fourth inning, his third of the series, to give his team a 3-0 lead.
  
Justin Sinibaldi gave Rutgers a big lift on the mound, going 5.1 innings and allowing just 1 run. He helped keep Nebraska at bay while the offense supplied him a lead.
 
"We pitched well today. Justin stepped up and did a nice job and that was really important," head coach Steve Owens said. "We played errorless baseball and we didn't give away too many free passes. I think we played very well in all aspects of the game." 

After putting two men on with one out in the sixth, he made way for Sam Portnoy, who entered with the tying run on first. Portnoy would strike out the first batter he faced before ending things with a flyout.
 
There would be no more high-leverage situations after that, as RU exploded for 10 runs in the top of the seventh.
 
Nick Cimillo nearly hit a 3-run home run, but the ball bounced off the wall and 1 run scored to make it 6-4. Tony Santa Maria was then hit by a pitch to load the bases.
 
Danny DiGeorgio then delivered the signature moment of the day, blasting a towering grand slam to dead center field that landed way beyond the fence. The Scarlet Knights wouldn't slow down, as Chris Brito hit a 2-run home run later in the inning, followed by a 2 RBI double by Evan Sleight and RBI single by Santa Maria to make it 13-1 when it was all said and done
 
Rutgers tacked on 6 more runs, including another home run by Brito in the top of the ninth to hand the Cornhuskers their largest home loss since 1992.
 
"You've got to play hard on Sundays," Owens said. "It's really hard when you've been on the field as much as we play on the weekend. I'm really happy with team's effort. We're going to go back home for a few weeks and we're excited to be back at home"

 

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Rutgers will host Lafayette on Tuesday and Penn on Wednesday in midweek action at Bainton Field.
 
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