UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State (14-20) scored five runs in the second inning and held off a middle-inning surge from Rutgers baseball (17-18) to claim a 7-3 win Friday at Medlar Field. The Scarlet Knights had entered the day with a five-game winning streak on the road.
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"We gave up five runs on six hits in one inning," head coach
Steve Owens said. "We tried to claw back in the middle of the game and made it 5-3, but then they hit a home run. The whole game swung in one inning and it was pretty even from there. We were not able to put together a big inning. They got hits with guys on base and we didn't. They made pitches and we didn't. That's why we lost today."
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After the five-run second, Rutkowski posted three zeroes to allow RU to cut into the deficit. The left-hander struck out four and took over sole possession of third place in the program's record books with 210 career strikeouts.
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Chris Brito knocked in two to increase his team-leading total to 33 RBIs.
Richie Schiekofer also drove in one and reached on a single and a walk.
Kevin Welsh extended his hitting streak to eight games.
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Bailey Dees earned the win for the Nittany Lions with two earned runs against in six innings. Mason Mellott picked up a three-inning save. The game lasted an even two hours.
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- B2 | Justin Williams hit a solo homer and four runs crossed with two down to give Penn State a 5-0 lead.
- T4 | Brito lined a two-out RBI single to plate Ryan Lasko.
- T5 | Josh Rodriguez led off drawing a walk, moved up on single by Peter Serruto and a sacrifice bunt by Mike Nyisztor, and scored on a grounder from Schiekofer to make it 5-2.
- T6 | Danny DiGeorgio laced a leadoff double and advanced on a fly ball. Brito then executed a safety squeeze to cut the deficit to two.
- B6 | Josh Spiegel hit a solo homer for the Nittany Lions.
- B8 | Spiegel doubled to right field to drive in a run and make it 7-3.
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Game two of the four-game series is set for Saturday at 1 p.m. Watch on Big Ten Network+ or listen on ScarletKnights.com.
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