PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball used timely offense and a dominant day from the pitching staff in a 5-1 victory over Seton Hall at Bainton Field. 

The Scarlet Knights (17-15) took a 2-1 lead in the third on a two-run homer from Chris Brito and never looked back, tossing seven consecutive scoreless innings to secure the win over the in-state Pirates (15-15).

Justin Sinibaldi got the start and would earn his team-best fourth win of the season to improve to 4-1. He threw 5.0 innings, allowing just one unearned run on seven hits, while striking out three and walking two. He was relieved by Sam Portnoy in the sixth, with RU holding a 3-1 lead. 

Portnoy had a stellar outing as well, throwing 3.2 scoreless frames and allowing just two hits with a strikeout and no walks. He exited with one out remaining in the ninth, making way for Ben Gorski, who recorded the save with a looking strikeout to finish off the win. 

Brito led the offensive charge, going 2-for-3 with four RBIs and a run scored. His two-run homer in the third gave RU a 2-1 lead, which he extended to 3-1 with a sac fly in the fifth. Evan Sleight drove in Josh Kuroda-Grauer with a single to make it 4-1 in the seventh, with Brito following suit with an RBI single of his own to score Ryan Lasko and make it 5-1. 

Defensively, Kuroda-Grauer helped the cause with his nine assists at shortstop. That marks the most assists for a Rutgers player since Kevin Welsh recorded nine assists at Nebraska in 2017.
 
Rutgers is back in action on Wednesday night against Marist. With a 6:00 p.m. first pitch, it will mark the first night game in Bainton Field history. 
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