Sunday, March 21
Piscataway, N.J.
1:00 PM
Rutgers University
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Ohio State
5-5, 5-5
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Ohio State
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Photo by: Eric Miller
Wereski & Stanavich Combine to Blank Ohio State
Mar 21 | Baseball
Scarlet Knights claim first series win over Buckeyes
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Ben Wereski pitched 7.1 scoreless innings and Dale Stanavich recorded the final five outs to lead Rutgers baseball (6-4) to a 2-0 shutout win over Ohio State (5-5) Sunday at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights won for the fourth time in five games, and coupled with Saturday's 6-5 victory, earned a series win over the Buckeyes for the first time.
"Ben was throwing strikes, getting ahead of hitters, mixing his pitches and locating," head coach Steve Owens said. "When you do all four of those things with four pitches, you can pitch long into the game, and that's what he did."
Picking up his third win in as many starts for RU, Wereski did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and retired 20 of the first 24 batters faced. The left-hander induced nine groundouts, one for a double play, and collected eight outs through the air, adding four strikeouts. He allowed just three singles and lowered his 2021 ERA to 2.00.
"Dale just competes," Owens said. "He's got an electric fastball that zooms low in the zone. His slider is working and he was able to keep balls off the barrel. He gave a little bit, but didn't give in in the key spots to finish the game. That's the most important thing."
Rutgers posted a shutout against Ohio State for the first time in 14 all-time meetings, holding the Buckeyes to 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Offensively, Chris Brito provided a two-run homer in the first inning for Rutgers' only hit of the game. It was the third baseman's eighth long ball of the season and fourth-straight game going deep. He nearly had another in the sixth, but OSU rightfielder Mitchell Okuley leaped at the wall to bring it back. The last RU hitter to reach eight homers in a season was Jawuan Harris in 2017.
"Brito is a good hitter and has a good approach right now," Owens said. "He is a very coachable young man and we're proud of him for what he's doing. We need him right now with DiGeorgio and Sweeney out. In addition to his homer, we had a lot of good at bats facing a good lefty with almost an unhittable breaking ball."
"Some key plays in the game today were outstanding defense from a freshman shortstop (Love) and a freshman rightfielder (Ryan Lasko), who changed the game with his glove multiple times. We did a good job behind the dish (Peter Serruto) as well. Kudos to those guys for playing a big part in winning a close game. Proud of the guys for competing and being ready to go every day. That's what it's all about."
"Ben was throwing strikes, getting ahead of hitters, mixing his pitches and locating," head coach Steve Owens said. "When you do all four of those things with four pitches, you can pitch long into the game, and that's what he did."
Picking up his third win in as many starts for RU, Wereski did not allow a hit until the sixth inning and retired 20 of the first 24 batters faced. The left-hander induced nine groundouts, one for a double play, and collected eight outs through the air, adding four strikeouts. He allowed just three singles and lowered his 2021 ERA to 2.00.
Stanavich entered with two on and one out in the eighth and promptly struck out the first batter faced on three pitches. Following a walk to load the bases, Stanavich induced a grounder to shortstop Cameron Love on a full count to strand three. In the ninth, the Buckeyes connected for back-to-back singles with one out before a pop up and comebacker secured Stanavich's first save as a Scarlet Knight."You can really feel the culture changing here. It's a great group of guys that I'm happy to be a part of."
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) March 21, 2021
Ben Wereski was dealing today!#RBaseball #TCD pic.twitter.com/bJeXnnJ7sq
"Dale just competes," Owens said. "He's got an electric fastball that zooms low in the zone. His slider is working and he was able to keep balls off the barrel. He gave a little bit, but didn't give in in the key spots to finish the game. That's the most important thing."
Rutgers posted a shutout against Ohio State for the first time in 14 all-time meetings, holding the Buckeyes to 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Offensively, Chris Brito provided a two-run homer in the first inning for Rutgers' only hit of the game. It was the third baseman's eighth long ball of the season and fourth-straight game going deep. He nearly had another in the sixth, but OSU rightfielder Mitchell Okuley leaped at the wall to bring it back. The last RU hitter to reach eight homers in a season was Jawuan Harris in 2017.
"Brito is a good hitter and has a good approach right now," Owens said. "He is a very coachable young man and we're proud of him for what he's doing. We need him right now with DiGeorgio and Sweeney out. In addition to his homer, we had a lot of good at bats facing a good lefty with almost an unhittable breaking ball."
Seth Lonsway went seven innings for Ohio State with two runs, one hit and four walks allowed. He struck out eight.SEE YA!
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) March 21, 2021
Brito homers for the fourth-straight game, this time to the opposite field. Up to eight on the season.
B1 | Rutgers 2, Ohio State 0 pic.twitter.com/llEdx982c9
"Some key plays in the game today were outstanding defense from a freshman shortstop (Love) and a freshman rightfielder (Ryan Lasko), who changed the game with his glove multiple times. We did a good job behind the dish (Peter Serruto) as well. Kudos to those guys for playing a big part in winning a close game. Proud of the guys for competing and being ready to go every day. That's what it's all about."
Nice catch!
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) March 21, 2021
No-hitter is broken, but Wereski strands two on a running snag from Lasko.
B6 | Rutgers 2, Ohio State 0 pic.twitter.com/zPfoVsDK9Q
| SCORING |
- Rutgers went up 2-0 in the first inning on Brito's homer to right-center. Josh Rodriguez previously walked to start the inning.
| UP NEXT |
"I'm not a home-field, away-field guy, never have been," Owens said. "We try to win every game, treating home and away games exactly the same. The weekend and midweek, conference and non-conference, all important. That's how we train the players. Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity for the players to perform."
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding baseball, follow the program on Twitter (@RutgersBaseball), Instagram (@rutgersbaseball) and Facebook (/BaseballRU). For additional updates, please download the Scarlet Knights App via the app store or play store.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wereski, Ben (3-0)
L: Lonsway, Seth (0-2)
S: Stanavich, Dale (1)
Base Running:
HBP: Kern, Kade 1 ; Ernst, Marcus 1
Batting:
HR: Brito, Chris 1
RBI: Brito, Chris 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez, Josh 1 ; Brito, Chris 1
SB: Rodriguez, Josh 1
HBP: Schiekofer, Richie 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
0
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
INF
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OF
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LHP
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LHP
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