PISCATAWAY, N.J. (April 2, 2022) – The Rutgers baseball team (21-6, 5-1) has its best record through 27 games in program history and its best start ever in Big Ten play.
 
The Scarlet Knights swept their doubleheader against Minnesota on Saturday at Bainton Field, winning 11-2 and 9-2 to complete the three-game sweep of the Golden Gophers.
 
"We got a lot of contributions from a lot of different players all weekend long," head coach Steve Owens said. "It's a really great weekend for us, at home, to win three games against any Big Ten opponent."
 
GAME 1 RECAP
Rutgers used a combination of a strong Nathan Florence start and consistent offense to quickly seize control of the first game.
 
Josh Kuroda-Grauer opened the scoring in the second inning with another RBI, this one a single up the middle. Evan Sleight drove in another run in the third before RU exploded for 7 runs in the fourth. Tony Santa Maria and Nick Cimillo each had 2-RBI doubles in the frame, with the Scarlet Knights eventually jumping out to a 9-0 lead after four.
 
All the meanwhile, Florence was in control on the mound, getting through 5.0 scoreless innings with little to no drama. Ru would take an 11-1 lead into the sixth, and while Florence would give up a walk and two singles to surrender a run, he quickly induced a double play and groundout to get through six frames and log a quality start.
 
Florence finished the afternoon with 6.0 innings, four hits, 1 run and five strikeouts. He would earn the win to improve to 4-1 on the season.
 
Garrett French relieved Florence for the seventh and was quick and effective. French kept a low pitch count and extended himself for three innings to close out the win and earn his second save of the season. French's performance also gave Owens more flexibility with the bullpen for the second game of the doubleheader.
 
"We made it go our way," Owens said of the first game. "We got a good start. We got a really good offensive performance and then we got a great relief appearance from Garrett French, which gave us length."
 
 
GAME 1 SCORING

• B2 | Chris Brito singles up the middle, goes to second on a Garrett Callaghan groundout and scores on a Josh Kuroda-Grauer RBI single. RU 1-0
• ­B3 | Tony Santa Maria walks, goes to second on a wild pitch and later scores on an Evan Sleight RBI single. RU 2-0
• B4 | With runners on first and second, Mike Nyisztor singles into left field to score Garrett Callaghan. RU 3-0
• B4 | Tony Santa Maria doubles with the bases loaded, scoring Kuroda-Grauer and Nyisztor. RU 5-0
• B4 | Nick Cimillo puts a groundball down the third base line, scoring Ryan Lasko and Santa Maria. RU 7-0
• B4 | Chris Brito beats out a double play ball to score Cimillo. RU 8-0
• B4 | Brito gets into an intentional rundown between first and second base, allowing Sleight to steal home. Brito would beat the play and steal second as well. RU 9-0
• B5 | Mike Nyisztor doubles, goes to third on a pop out and scores on a Santa Maria sacrifice fly. RU 10-0
• B5 | Nick Cimillo cranks a solo home run (7) to left field. RU 11-0
• T6 | After a leadoff walk, back-to-back singles score Brady Counsell. RU 11-1
• T8 | Brady Counsell hits a solo home run to left. RU 11-2

 
GAME 2 RECAP
 
Rutgers once again jumped out in front early, with Ryan Lasko scoring on a wild pitch in the first inning. Justin Sinibaldi got the start and was effective through his first 2.0 innings. Minnesota would lead for the first time all series when it hit a 2-run home run in the third inning, but that would be the only scoring for the visitors in the second game.
 
Ben Gorski took over in the fourth inning and changed the game. He completely shut down the Golden Gophers for 4.0 innings and allowed the RU offense to get to work.
 
In a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fourth, Danny DiGeorgio battled through a tough at-bat with the bases loaded and reached on an infield single to third. Ryan Lasko never stopped running on the play and caught the Minnesota defense lacking to score from second base on the play and give Rutgers a 4-2 lead.
 
Later in the frame, Chris Brito hit a double into left field that scored 3 and blew things wide open.
 
Gorski bridged the gap to the eighth inning, where he would depart in line for the win after 4.0 hitless innings with five strikeouts. Sam Bello pitched a clean eighth, while freshman Joe Mazza tossed a scoreless ninth, capped off by a looking strikeout to end the game.
 
Offensively, 8 of Rutgers' 9 runs came with two outs, as the Scarlet Knights once again showed why they are one of the toughest lineups in the country.
 
"Our guys fight in the batter's box," Owens said. "We put walks on people. We wear pitches. We put 104 pitches on their starter in 3.2 innings. And he's good. Those are really good arms on Minnesota."
 
GAME 2 SCORING

• B1 | Ryan Lasko leads off with a walk, goes to second on a groundout, goes to third on a single and scores on a wild pitch. RU 1-0
• T3 | Andrew Wilhite hits a 2-run home run to dead center field. Minnesota 2-1
• B4 | After leading off with a ground-rule double, Josh Kuroda-Grauer scores on a wild pitch. Tie 2-2
• B4 | Danny DiGeorgio beats out an infield single with the bases loaded. Ryan Lasko makes a great read and scores from second base on the play. RU 4-2
• B4 | With the bases loaded, Chris Brito hits a fly ball to left field that drops between the left fielder and shortstop. All three runners score. RU 7-2.
• B6 | Chris Brito hits his second double of the game to score Danny DiGeorgio from second. RU 8-2
• B8 | Danny DiGeorgio walks, advances from first to third on a passed ball, then scores on another passed ball. RU 9-2

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights will host Monmouth on Tuesday at 3:00 p.m. before traveling to Nebraska for a three-game series against the Huskers next weekend.
 
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