Saturday, March 6
U.S. Bank Stadium / Minneapolis, Minn.
5:00 PM
Rutgers University
2-0, 2-0
16
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Minnesota
0-2, 0-2
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Rutgers
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Photo by: Eric Miller
Four Homers Slug Baseball Past Minnesota, 16-1
Mar 06 | Baseball
Scarlet Knights improve to 2-0 for first time since 2006
MINNEAPOLIS – Grand slams by Evan Sleight and Chris Brito propelled Rutgers baseball (2-0) to a 16-1 victory over Minnesota (0-2) in the first game of Saturday action inside U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Scarlet Knights are 2-0 for the first time since 2006 after posting the program's most runs and largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since joining the conference.
Ben Wereski earned the win on the mound in his RU debut with only one run and three hits permitted over six innings. The graduate student scattered three hits, walked none and struck out five. Jared Bellissimo followed with three shutout innings for his first collegiate save. The pitchers have permitted just two runs through two games, holding opponent to 1-for-22 with runners in scoring position.
Jordan Sweeney joined Sleight and Brito with multiple RBIs with four knocked in on a three-run double and a solo homer. For Sleight, his first career hit started the scoring on an opposite-field drive to left with the bags packed. Brito smashed his second long ball in as many days and added an RBI single to make it five driven home in the game. Rutgers last recorded a grand slam on Tom Marcinczyk's shot at George Mason in 2016. In the eighth inning, Ryan Lasko collected his first hit as a Scarlet Knight with a two-run homer to left-center. It was the first RU game with at least three homers since having six at Lafayette in 2017.
RU racked up 14 hits with 10 walks drawn and four players hit by pitch to have traffic on the bases all afternoon. Josh Rodriguez and Richie Schiekofer each scored three runs.
J.P. Massey took the loss for the host Golden Gophers with five runs allowed in three-plus innings.
Ben Wereski earned the win on the mound in his RU debut with only one run and three hits permitted over six innings. The graduate student scattered three hits, walked none and struck out five. Jared Bellissimo followed with three shutout innings for his first collegiate save. The pitchers have permitted just two runs through two games, holding opponent to 1-for-22 with runners in scoring position.
Jordan Sweeney joined Sleight and Brito with multiple RBIs with four knocked in on a three-run double and a solo homer. For Sleight, his first career hit started the scoring on an opposite-field drive to left with the bags packed. Brito smashed his second long ball in as many days and added an RBI single to make it five driven home in the game. Rutgers last recorded a grand slam on Tom Marcinczyk's shot at George Mason in 2016. In the eighth inning, Ryan Lasko collected his first hit as a Scarlet Knight with a two-run homer to left-center. It was the first RU game with at least three homers since having six at Lafayette in 2017.
RU racked up 14 hits with 10 walks drawn and four players hit by pitch to have traffic on the bases all afternoon. Josh Rodriguez and Richie Schiekofer each scored three runs.
J.P. Massey took the loss for the host Golden Gophers with five runs allowed in three-plus innings.
Highlights: Runs, runs & runs in a 16-1 win over Minnesota!#RBaseball #TCD pic.twitter.com/1AfgG1VIEy
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) March 7, 2021
| SCORING |
- Rutgers jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Sleight's grand slam in the top of the first. Rodriguez and Schiekofer walked to start, with Brito lining a one-out single to load the bases. Sleight then lifted the second pitch of his at bat over the wall in left.
- Zack Raabe hit a solo homer to left-center for Minnesota in the bottom of the first.
- The Scarlet Knights reclaimed a four-run advantage on a two-out RBI single by Brito in the second.
- In the fourth, Sweeney crushed an 0-2 breaking ball over the wall in left field for a solo home run.
- Brito tacked on a grand slam to put the game out of reach in the sixth, 10-1. Lasko (walk), Schiekofer (hit by pitch) and Sweeney (walk) all boarded and trotted home on Brito's drive to deep center.
- In the seventh, Schiekofer drew a walk with bases loaded before Sweeney roped a three-run double to the left-field corner.
- Lasko capped the scoring with a two-run homer to left-center in the top of the eighth.
| UP NEXT |
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 (1-0)
L: J.P. Massey (0-1)
S: Bellissimo, Jared (1)
Batting:
2B: Sweeney, Jordan 1
HR: Sweeney, Jordan 1 ; Brito, Chris 1 ; Sleight, Evan 1 ; Lasko, Ryan 1
RBI: Schiekofer, Richie 1 ; Sweeney, Jordan 4 ; Brito, Chris 5 ; Sleight, Evan 4 ; Lasko, Ryan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez, Josh 3 ; Schiekofer, Richie 3 ; Sweeney, Jordan 2 ; Brito, Chris 2 ; Sleight, Evan 1 ; Shulman, Grant 1 ; Serruto, Peter 2 ; Lasko, Ryan 2
SB: DiGeorgio, Danny 1
HBP: Rodriguez, Josh 1 ; Schiekofer, Richie 1 ; Norton, Bradley 1 ; Shulman, Grant 1
PO: Rodriguez, Josh 1
Batting:
2B: Jack Wassel 1 ; Cody Kelly 2
HR: Zack Raabe 1
RBI: Zack Raabe 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Zack Raabe 1
HBP: Andrew Wilhite 1 ; Chase Stanke 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
5
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
4
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
4
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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