QUEENS, N.Y. – Rutgers baseball used a three-run double from
Trevor Cohen in the ninth inning to defeat St. John's 3-1 on Tuesday afternoon at Jack Kaiser Stadium in Queens.
The Scarlet Knights (25-16, 7-5 Big Ten) were trailing 1-0 and down to their last out before plating three to take the lead.
Ben Gorski threw a 1-2-3 ninth to finish off the victory over the Red Storm (19-19, 2-7 BIG EAST).
Jake Marshall started for RU and put forth a strong effort, going 3.0 innings, allowing no runs on one hit, while striking out two and walking one.
Joe Mazza relieved him with 2.0 scoreless innings of his own, yielding just two hits with two strikeouts and a walk.
After an early pitcher's battle, St. John's broke through with the first run of the game in the sixth. Back-to-back hits to lead off the frame gave them runners on first and third with no outs. An RBI single to right field made it 1-0 before a double play ended the inning.
Sam Portnoy (1.1) and
Garrett French (0.2) combined for scoreless sixth and seventh innings.
Ethan Bowen worked around a two-out walk to get a looking strikeout to end the eighth inning. His effort earned him his first win of his career to move to 1-0.
Heading into the ninth down 1-0 with just three hits and one walk on the day, the Scarlet Knights were able to finally break through in the final frame.
Hugh Pinkney led off the inning with a walk, followed by another walk from
Danny Melnick. After a popout and strikeout,
Josh Kuroda-Grauer worked a walk on a full count to load the bases. With the team down to its last out,
Trevor Cohen delivered the big blow of the game, crushing a bases-clearing double off the wall in right field to give RU a 3-1 lead.
Ben Gorski pitched the ninth and struck out the first batter, followed by a pair of flyouts to end the game and give him his fifth save of the season.
The Scarlet Knights have now won six games in a row, have won 10 of their last 11 and are 11-0 in midweek games.
Rutgers returns to action this weekend when it travels to West Lafayette for a three-game series at Purdue in Big Ten play.
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