IOWA CITY, Iowa – Rutgers baseball dropped Friday's series opener at Iowa by a score of 8-1 at Duane Banks Field. 

The Scarlet Knights (23-14, 3-7) went down 2-1 in the second and the Hawkeyes' (20-15, 7-6) pitching staff posted seven straight scoreless innings to close out the victory. 

After Iowa got a man on in the bottom of the first, he advanced to second on a passed ball, went to third on a flyout to center and scored on another passed ball to make it 1-0. 

RU answered with a solo home run from Ty Doucette in the top of the second, his seventh of the season. The Hawkeyes would take the lead again in the bottom half on a two-out RBI single to take a 2-1 advantage. 

After taking the lead in the second, Iowa's pitched buckled down and held Rutgers off the scoreboard for the final seven innings. 

On the mound for the Scarlet Knights, Justin Sinibaldi delivered his fifth straight quality start and ninth of the season, pitching 6.1 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits, six strikeouts and five walks. 

In the bottom of the eighth, the Hawkeyes surged for six more runs to break open the contest and make it 8-1. 

Game two between Rutgers and Iowa is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

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