STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Rutgers baseball dropped Friday's series opener to Penn State by a score of 7-6 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. 

The Scarlet Knights (26-22, 4-15) rallied to tie the game with two runs in the ninth, but the Nittany Lions (22-21, 8-11) walked it off with back-to-back hits in the bottom of the ninth. 

Rutgers got on the board first, scoring three in the third. Ty Doucette opened the scoring with a two-run single with the bases loaded. Tony Santa Maria followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0. 

Penn State answered with an RBI single in the third and scored two more on a solo home run and RBI double to tie the game at 3-3 after four innings of play. 

Doucette gave the Scarlet Knights the lead again with an RBI groundout in the fifth. 

Joe Mazza gave RU a huge lift out of the bullpen, pitching 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit with four strikeouts and no walks. 
 
Penn State rallied in the eighth, tying the game on a solo home run and taking the lead with an RBI triple. The hosts added another insurance run to make it 6-4 after eight. 

The Rutgers offense did not away quietly, rallying to tie the game in the top of the ninth. Down 6-4 with two outs, Pete Durocher tripled into left-center to score Santa Maria. After PSU made a pitching change, Trevor Cohen lined a single into left field to score Durocher and tie the game at 6-6. 

In the bottom of the ninth, the Nittany Lions led off with a single and walked it off on a ball into the right-center gap. 

Game two between Rutgers and Penn State is set for 12 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. 

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