PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball dropped its Big Ten opener to Michigan State on Friday, dropping a tight 3-2 contest at Bainton Field.
After going down 2-0 in the fourth, the Scarlet Knights (13-12, 0-1) were unable to manufacture enough offense to spark a comeback against the visiting Spartans (15-8, 3-1).
Drew Conover got the start for RU and threw 4.0 innings, allowing a pair of runs on back-to-back walks with the bases loaded in the fourth.
Garrett French gave up 1 run in 2+ innings of relief,
Ben Gorski threw 2.0 scoreless frames and
Grant Besser tossed a scoreless ninth out of the bullpen.
The Scarlet Knights loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth, but scored just 1 run off of a double play. After MSU added an insurance run in the seventh, RU threatened again in the eighth.
Using back-to-back hits,
Josh Kuroda-Grauer and
Evan Sleight made it to second and third with one out. Although Kuroda-Grauer scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-2, the Spartans were able to get out of the inning with a double play.
MSU's Wyatt Rush set down the Scarlet Knights in order to finish off the save in the ninth.
Rutgers will continue its series against Michigan State at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Bainton Field.
Follow Rutgers Baseball on Social Media
