Rutgers University
4-1
Virginia Tech
4-1
Baseball Opens Weekend with Run-Rule Victory at Virginia Tech
Feb 20 | Baseball
BLACKSBURG, Va. – Rutgers baseball delivered a 16-1 blowout win over Virginia Tech Friday to open the series at English Field.
Charlie Meglio had a monster day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double, seven RBIs and four runs scored.
On the mound, Joe Mazza earned the victory with 3.1 scoreless innings of relief, striking out six batters with just three hits allowed and no walks.
What was a 2-1 game through four innings became 5-1 game after five, 8-1 after seven and 16-1 after RU scored eight in the top of the eighth to bring the run-rule into effect.
Dallin Harrison started on the mound for the Scarlet Knights, pitching 3.2 innings and giving up just one run on a solo home run in the second inning on four hits, striking out two and working around five walks.
Rutgers opened the scoring on a balk in the second inning. While the Hokies tied it in the second, Meglio hit a solo homer in the third to make it 2-1.
After Virginia Tech loaded the bases in the fourth with two outs, Mazza came on to get the last out of the inning and keep the score at 2-1.
RU then added on when Meglio hit a two-out, three-run home run in the top of the fifth to give the team breathing room at 5-1. A Meglio single, double play and RBI double from Yomar Carreras added three more in the seventh to make it a convincing 8-1 scoreline.
The Scarlet Knights piled on in the eighth, loading the bases multiple times and scoring eight runs. Peyton Bonds (RBI single), Meglio (two-run single), Trey Wells (RBI groundout), Carreras (two-run double) and Matt Chatelle (two-run double) all contributed to the cause.
Matthew Cruz entered for the bottom of the eighth, getting a double play to end things and wrap up the victory.
After the game, changes were made to the schedule for the rest of the series. Game two is now set for 3 p.m. Saturday and game three will be at noon Sunday.
The games will not be streamed. Fans can follow along on X (@RutgersBaseball) for live updates. Live stats will be available at go.rutgers.edu/LiveStats.
Notes
- Friday marked the second straight run-rule of the season, third game with 10+ runs and the 16 runs were the most of the season
- Charlie Meglio set a career high in hits (4), RBIs (7) and runs (4)
- Meglio's multi-home run game was the first since Yomar Carreras against Rider (5/7/25) and his seven RBIs were the most since Nick Tomasetto also had seven against St. Joe's (2/25/25)
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Mazza, Joe (1-1)
L: Renfrow, Brett (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Carreras, Yomar 1 ; Chatelle, Matt 1
HR: Meglio, Charlie 2
RBI: Carreras, Yomar 3 ; Bonds, Peyton 1 ; Chatelle, Matt 2 ; Meglio, Charlie 7 ; Wells, Trey 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rosado, Julius 1 ; Wiltsey, Tyler 1 ; Bonds, Peyton 3 ; Chatelle, Matt 1 ; Meglio, Charlie 4 ; Wells, Trey 1 ; Krewson, Chase 3 ; Jaros, Ryan 1 ; Erace, Joey 1
SB: Bonds, Peyton 1
Batting:
2B: Petrich, Owen 1
HR: Ball, Ethan 1
RBI: Ball, Ethan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ball, Ethan 1
