PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball won its Big Ten opener on Friday afternoon, beating Iowa by a score of 5-4 at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights (6-7, 1-0) used a combination of two-out RBIs and 5.1 scoreless innings from their bullpen to win the one-run thriller over the Hawkeyes (5-7, 0-1).

RU continued its trend of scoring first in games, plating a pair in the first inning. With runners on second and third, Nick Tomasetto hit a slow dribbler to the pitcher. Trevor Cohen scored in the grounder and when the ball was thrown wild, Peyton Bonds also crossed the plate to make it 2-0.
 
RJ Johnson Jr. led off the second with a hit-by-pitch. After going to third, he scored when Trevor Cohen was caught in a rundown between first and second.
 
With two outs in the top of the fourth, Iowa hit a grand slam to take a 4-3 advantage.
 
The Scarlet Knights tied the game in the fifth when Peyton Bonds launched his first home run in a Rutgers uniform, sending a two-strike pitch 456 feet to left field to make it 4-4.
 
The RU offense continued to put on the pressure in the sixth. Tomasetto walked to lead off the frame and went to second on a sac bunt. He went to third on a groundout before Pablo Santos ripped a two-out single to score him and give Rutgers a 5-4 lead.

After the Hawkeyes took the lead in the fourth, Joe Mazza came in to get the final out of the frame. He went on to retire seven straight to start his outing and finished with three scoreless frames, giving up just one hit, one walk and striking out four. Iowa was able to load the bases in the top of the seventh and Luke Fithian came in with two outs. On a full count, Fithian dialed up a looking strikeout to end the inning and post another zero. 

Fithian threw two scoreless innings, with one hit, one walk and one strikeout. With two outs in the ninth, Quinn Berglin came in and got the final out to earn his first save of the season. 

Game two between Rutgers and Iowa is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.

Notes

• Peyton Bonds extended his on-base streak to all 13 games this season on a first-inning walk.
• Peyton Bonds extended his hitting streak to nine games with a fifth-inning home run.
• Trevor Cohen recorded his sixth multi-hit game of the season.
• Pablo Santos recorded his fourth multi-hit game of the season.