OMAHA, Neb. (May 29, 2022) – The Rutgers baseball team made history in more way than one early Sunday morning. After starting a game at 11:53 p.m. local time and waiting out a 35-minute lightning delay the Scarlet Knights wasted no time against Indiana, dominating the Hoosiers and ending the game after seven innings in a 14-2, run-rule victory to send RU to the Big Ten Championship Game on Sunday.
The Scarlet Knights will play for a conference title at 6 p.m. eastern time, awaiting the winner of the 2 p.m. semifinal between Michigan and Iowa.
Against Indiana, Rutgers came out loose and ready to play, posting a 4-spot in the first inning.
Ryan Lasko singled on the first pitch,
Danny DiGeorgio walked and
Nick Cimillo singled through the left side to put RU up 1-0 early.
Evan Sleight and
Tony Santa Maria each singled a run to make it 3-0 before an out was recorded.
Chris Brito bounced into a double-play, but another run scored to make it 4-0.
After
Mike Nyisztor walked to lead off the second,
Ryan Lasko doubled him home and then came around to score on an RBI groundout to make it 6-0.
In the third,
Mike Nyisztor worked a nine-pitch at-bat before crushing a triple over the IU right fielder's head to score Brito and
Richie Schiekofer. Nyisztor would then score on an error to push the score to 9-0 after three.
On the mound for Rutgers was
Brian Fitzpatrick, who made his return after missing more than two months with an injury, pitching in his first game since March 19th at Nebraska Omaha. All he did was throw 4.0 scoreless innings, yielding just one single and one walk while striking out six batters.
Sam Portnoy entered for Fitzpatrick in the fifth and was one strike away from ending the inning when the game was halted due to lightning. After a 35-minute delay, Portnoy struck out IU's leadoff hitter to end the frame.
While the Hoosiers got a pair of runs back on a 2-run home run in the sixth, the Scarlet Knights responded with 5 runs in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded and two outs,
Nick Cimillo singled through the left side to score 2 and make it 11-2.
Tony Santa Maria then ripped a double into the left field corner to score
Danny DiGeorgio and give RU a 10-run advantage.
With the bases once again loaded,
Chris Brito singled to score 2 runs, giving Rutgers a 14-2 lead and breaking the Rutgers single-season RBI record of 72, set by Peter Zoccolillo in 1999. Those RBIs were No. 73 and 74 on the season for Brito.
The Scarlet Knights will now play in the Big Ten Championship Game at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday. RU will play the winner of the Michigan vs. Iowa semifinal game, which will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
