May 14, 2017 Box Score
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Capped by a walk-off single from senior Christian Campbell in his final at bat at Bainton Field, Rutgers baseball scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to claim an 8-7 victory over Illinois in the rubber game on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights overcame a five-run deficit to take the Big Ten series over the Fighting Illini.
RU (19-29, 7-11) has now won its past nine home finales dating back to 2009. In addition, it was the first walk-off triumph and first time winning when trailing after eight innings this year. The last time the team overcame a five-run deficit in a game to win was April 16, 2010 in an 8-7 home victory over USF.
Down 7-4 with one out in last of the ninth, Rutgers put together five consecutive productive at bats with two strikes to tie the score. Junior Kyle Walker started it off by drawing an eight-pitch walk as a pinch hitter, with senior Mike Carter next singling through the right side down 0-2 in the count. Sophomore Luke Bowerbank then battled in a nine-pitch confrontation before taking ball four to load the bases. That brought up sophomore Mike Martinez, who fell behind two strikes before smacking a two-RBI hit to right field to make it 7-6 and put runners at the corners. Senior Tom Marcinczyk also fell into a two-strike hole, but came through with an RBI grounder to second base to plate Bowerbank as the tying run. Finishing it off, Campbell struck a line drive to right-center to easily score Martinez from second base and set off a celebration.
The Scarlet Knights totaled 10 hits overall, going 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Campbell and Carter each had two hits in their final home game, while Marcinczyk added his 16th career triple to the RBI grounder. Martinez led the team with three RBIs and three runs, including a solo homer.
The bullpen combined to permit just one run in the last 5.1 innings to allow RU to make a comeback. Senior Ryan Fleming stranded the bases loaded as the first one in, with sophomore Ryan Wares throwing two shutout frames. Sophomore Kevin Romero surrendered one run, but left a runner in scoring position, as fifth-year senior Max Herrmann (1-1) collected the win in his 85th career appearance. The Scarlet Knights held the opponent to 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left 13 on base.
Illinois (22-26, 8-13) jumped out to 6-1 lead after the top of the fourth with two in the first, one in the second, two in the third and one in the fourth. Martinez's third homer of the season came in the bottom of the first to left field.
In the fourth, Martinez was hit by a pitch to start, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Campbell. It extended Campbell's hitting streak to 11 games.
The relievers kept UI at six runs through the middle innings, with RU rallying for two in the seventh to chip into the deficit. Junior Chris Folinusz chopped an infield single and advanced on a throwing error to start. Sophomore Carmen Sclafani followed with an RBI triple and freshman Kevin Welsh doubled to make it 6-4.
A sacrifice fly gave Illinois a three-run lead in the eighth, but Herrmann nailed down a scoreless ninth by striking out two. That led to the eventful bottom of the inning, which saw the winning run cross home before rain hit Bainton Field.
Joey Gerber (2-1) suffered the loss for the visitors while attempting to complete his ninth save of the year.
Rutgers will next board a plane on Monday morning to Minneapolis for a doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday at 3 p.m. versus Minnesota on Big Ten Network. The trip will also include a three-game series starting next Thursday at Northwestern to close the regular season.
NOTES
Rutgers has now hosted all 12 Big Ten opponents at Bainton Field, winning six of the series … the offense has totaled double-digit hits in six of the last seven games … the five-run comeback marked the largest of the season … the Mother's Day walk-off brought back memories off a 2003 game-ending homer by Steve Normane in the 19th inning against Notre Dame … Sunday's game lasted three hours, 21 minutes.
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