PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball jumped out to an early lead and held on for a 5-4 victory over Illinois at Bainton Field on Friday night.
The Scarlet Knights (31-18, 12-7) used a three-run home run from
Andy Axelson and another strong outing from
Christian Coppola to defeat the Fighting Illini (22-23, 11-11) in the series opener.
Coppola continues to thrive as the Friday starter, as he delivered his fourth quality start in his last five games. Coppola worked around a solo home run and a litany of singles, finishing with 6.0 innings, allowing just one run on eight hits, striking out six and walking one.
Rutgers continued its trend of early offense, getting on the board in the second inning. After a hit-by-pitch and walk put on a pair of runners,
Andy Axelson roped a three-run homer over the wall in left field, his fourth of the season to give RU a 3-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth,
Ryan Lasko doubled home
Trevor Cohen and
Chris Brito singled in Lasko to extend the lead to 5-0. Brito's RBI single was his 191st career RBI, tying him with Pete Zoccolillo and Jake Daubert for the program record.
While Illinois clawed back in the final five innings -- included a two-run homer to make it 5-4 in the eighth -- the Rutgers bullpen was able to shut them down when it mattered to seal the win.
After Coppola exited,
Joe Mazza gave up one run on a groundout in the seventh.
Ben Gorski entered for the eighth, looking for the six-out save. While the Illini took advantage of a two-out walk and hit a two-run home run to make it 5-4, Gorski picked up a strikeout to end the frame,
In the ninth, Gorski got a pop out and a pair of flyouts to center to complete his seventh save of the season.
While the Scarlet Knights registered just four hits on the night, they walked five times and were hit by five pitches.
Trevor Cohen did not register an at-bat, setting a career high with four walks in the game.
Game two between Rutgers and Illinois is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m., with
Drew Conover getting the start for RU at Bainton Field. Senior Day festivities will take place at 5:35 p.m. pregame.
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