COLUMBUS, Ohio (April 29, 2022) – The No. 24 Rutgers baseball team won its third straight game on Friday night, defeating Ohio State on the road by a score of 6-4. Evan Sleight hit two home runs and Chris Brito had his 10th big fly of the season to lead the offense. Jared Kollar earned his seventh win and Dale Stanavich earned a four-out save, while the defense had its third straight errorless game. Rutgers is now 34-9 overall and 13-3 in the Big Ten, good for solo first place in the conference.
 
"That was a high-level, intense game," head coach Steve Owens. "We pitched well, we made zero errors and we had a really good offensive approach and I thought we stuck with it."

The Scarlet Knight offense got to work right away, kick started by back-to-back singles from Ryan Lasko and Danny DiGeorgio to lead off the game. Nick Cimillo then lifted a sacrifice fly to right field before Evan Sleight crushed a 2-run home run to right field to put RU up 3-0.
 
The Buckeyes would claw back with RBI singles from Blayne Robinson and Kade Kern in the first and third innings.

RU would get two big insurance runs in the top of the seventh, when OSU tried to get length out of starter Nate Haberthier. Chris Brito cranked a pitch over the wall in left-center field for his team-best 10th home run of the season, becoming the first Scarlet Knight to hit double-digit homers this season. Sleight then followed up with his second home run of the game, his first-career multi-home run game, giving Rutgers a 5-2 lead.

The teams traded runs, with Ohio State hitting solo home runs in the seventh and eighth innings, while RU scored on a passed ball in the top of the eighth, making the score 6-4 going into the ninth.

After coming on to get the last out of the eighth, Dale Stanavich tossed a scoreless ninth to lock down his ninth save of the season. 

"That was a really good team win on a Friday night," Owens said. "Tomorrow will be a long, tough day, but we're going to enjoy today."

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.