PISCATAWAY, N.J. (April 5, 2022) – The Rutgers baseball team wrapped up its homestand with another midweek win, this one a 9-4 triumph over Monmouth. After trailing 4-3 in the eighth, the Scarlet Knights (22-6, 5-1) rallied for 6 runs in the frame to seize control of the game and take down the Hawks (12-14, 3-0 MAAC) at Bainton Field.
 
Kyle Muller got the nod for RU and gave a strong effort, throwing 4.0 scoreless innings. He yielded just two hits and struck out three on 59 pitches.
 
On a cloudy day with the wind blowing in, runs were not easy to come by in Piscataway. Rutgers broke through first, when Josh Kuroda-Grauer hit a well-placed double into right field to score Nick Cimillo.
 
"I thought we hit the ball pretty well today," head coach Steve Owens said. "We hit the ball at them and they played very good defense. They pitched well and they did a good job with us."
 
Things would get interesting in the sixth, with Monmouth using two seeing-eye singles to start a rally. With men on first and second, Danny DiGeorgio fielded a ground ball going to his right and tried to get the force out at third. The throw went wide, allowing the Hawks to tie the game. The next batter would put a base-hit right back up the middle to make it 3-1 in favor of Monmouth. One more run would score that inning on a double play.
 
The Rutgers offense would battle back in the bottom half, loading the bases with no outs and using two sacrifice flies from Chris Brito and Josh Kuroda-Grauer to get back within 1 run at 4-3.
 
The Scarlet Knight pitchers settled in, with Jared Bellissimo tossing a scoreless seventh and freshman Sam Portnoy giving them a 1-2-3 eighth on eight pitches. With the Hawks at bay, Rutgers would go to work in the bottom of the eighth.
 
Evan Sleight walked to lead off, followed by a Chris Brito single. Richie Schiekofer then hit an infield single to load the bases. Pinch hitting with one out, Garrett Callaghan fouled off a number of pitches before doing his job and tying the game with a sacrifice fly to left.
 
"A lot of guys contributed in a lot of ways," Owens said of the team's depth. "We have more than nine starting players. We have 11 or 12. Each of them have played huge parts for us. We have two or three really good players that we can pull off the bench."
 
Ryan Lasko delivered the big blow of the game, cranking a double through the wind and into the left-center gap to score 2 runs and give Rutgers a 6-4 lead. 
 
Nick Cimillo and Tony Santa Maria blew the game open with back-to-back singles that scored 3 runs and made it 9-4.
 
Dale Stanavich got the ball for the ninth and delivered a no-nonsense 1-2-3 frame with two strikeouts to slam the door for the team's seventh straight win. Portnoy would earn the win, the first of his career. 
 
"Today was a tough day to hit and we were able to have a really good inning. We put at-bats together and we've been pretty good this year at doing that. It's a good win for our team. It's a good confidence builder to come back from a deficit and win a game late at home."
 

SCORING

 

UP NEXT

The Scarlet Knights head out to Lincoln to take on Nebraska in a three-game series in Big Ten play.
 
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