PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball used early offense and a strong day on the mound to defeat St. Joe's 6-3 in its home opener on Wednesday afternoon.
The Scarlet Knights (3-4) wasted no time getting to work and plated 2 runs in the first inning.
Ryan Lasko and
Hugh Pinkney each walked and moved to second and third with two outs.
Trevor Cohen come through once again, this time with a line drive single up the middle to score both and give RU a 2-0 lead.
While the Hawks (1-3) evened the score in the second, RU hung a crooked number in the bottom half, plating 4 runs to make it 6-2.
Evan Sleight singled to lead off the inning and
Danny Melnick walked to put two men on for leadoff man Cam Love. A single by Love deflected off the pitcher and went into the outfield to score Sleight. Pinkney then doubled into the corner to score Melnick. Lasko brought home Love with a sac fly and Cohen singled to shortstop, with an error on the play allowing Melnick to score.
When it was all said and done, Rutgers held a 6-2 lead after two frames, allowing the pitching staff to settle in.
After
Garrett French started and allowed a pair of runs,
Joe Mazza finished the second and pitched a clean third.
Wyatt Parliament bridged the gap, throwing 3.0 scoreless frames to earn the win, his first of the season.
Ben Gorski would finish the game, throwing 3.0 innings and allowing just 1 run on a solo home run, earning his first save of the year.
An an offense, RU struck out just three times total, its lowest total of the season and fewest in a game since May 8 against Maryland last season.
Rutgers is back in action this weekend at UNC Greensboro, with game one of the three-game series set for 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon.
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