LINCOLN, Neb. – Scoring four in the eighth inning to overcome a one-run deficit, Rutgers baseball (15-13) won its third-straight road game over a ranked opponent in a 9-4 victory against Big Ten-leading and No. 19 Nebraska (20-8) Friday at Hawks Field. The Scarlet Knights, now 10-6 on the road in 2021, earned their first all-time win at Nebraska in six tries.
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"It was a high-intensity game, good crowd, beautiful weather and we're going against a really good team," head coach
Steve Owens said. "Harry didn't have great fastball command, but still got them out enough to keep it close. Muller then did what Muller does. Fitzpatrick was going to finish the eighth, but had to leave, hopefully he's okay. Then Dale pitched very well to close it out.
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"Our offense did a good job today. We were very gritty, tough and didn't strikeout much. We put balls in play and picked up runs without hits on sac flies. There were some good at bats, especially against their bullpen. We are excited for the win and will enjoy it tonight, but will be back out there tomorrow looking for another."
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In his 40
th career start,
Harry Rutkowski logged his fifth quality start of the season with two earned runs and four hits against in six innings to keep RU within one after departing. The left-hander racked up seven strikeouts to top 200 as a Scarlet Knight, becoming the fifth pitcher in program history to reach the plateau (Bobby Brownlie, Casey Gaynor, Howie Brey, Rob Smorol).
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The bullpen provided three hitless innings with one unearned run crossing.
Kyle Muller picked up the win with a scoreless seventh, while
Brian Fitzpatrick retired 2-of-3 hitters before leaving due to injury.
Dale Stanavich stranded an inherited runner in a three-run game and worked through the ninth to collect his second save. The quartet held the Cornhuskers to 1-for-16 with runners on, as the staff has permitted five or less hits in each of the last three games.
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Offensively, all nine in the lineup reached base at least once in totaling 10 hits, five walks and three hit by pitches.
Mike Nyisztor,
Evan Sleight and
Kevin Welsh all knocked in two, with
Richie Schiekofer,
Chris Brito and
Danny DiGeorgio each scoring a pair of runs. RU went 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position and scored a runner from third with less than two outs in 8-of-9 opportunities. In addition, the team struck out a season-low four times.
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Nebraska, ranked as high as 19 in the latest national polls, entered the weekend in the first place in the Big Ten standings and had won their previously five weekend openers before Friday. Rutgers tagged the Husker bullpen for seven runs in the last two innings to overcome a 3-2 deficit starting the eighth. That included the tying run charged to Jake Bunz, who had not allowed a run in his last nine relief appearances coming in. Cam Wynne took the loss with three runs surrendered.
