PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball dominated Michigan in its series opener, winning 13-0 in wire-to-wire fashion on Friday night at Bainton Field.
The Scarlet Knights (19-15, 3-4) were led by true freshman
Christian Coppola, who threw eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts, to defeat the Wolverines (18-15, 6-4).
Coppola's gem was complimented by 13 runs on 18 hits from the lineup and errorless defense behind him.
He started his day with back-to-back strikeouts in a 1-2-3 first inning, needing just nine pitches.
The offense immediately gave him a cushion, hanging four runs in the first, which would be plenty for Coppola.
Josh Kuroda-Grauer (single),
Trevor Cohen (fielder's choice) and
Ryan Lasko (RBI single) all reached base to make it 1-0 after three batters.
Evan Sleight was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and
Cameron Love followed with a two-run single to make it 4-0.
Michigan made a pitching change for the second inning and RU responded by loading the bases with no outs. Lasko (single), Sleight (sac fly) and Love (single) each drove in a run to give the Scarlet Knights a 7-0 advantage.
While Coppola was in cruise control, the offense kept producing, In the fifth inning,
Andy Axelson roped a two-run home run to left field, scoring
Hugh Pinkney. Kuroda-Grauer followed with a solo shot to center, making it 10-0 in favor of RU.
Axelson hit a sac fly in the sixth and Kuroda-Grauer (single) and Lasko (double) each drove in a run in the eighth to push the score to 13-0.
Matt Rowe finished off the victory with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out one Wolverine.
In his first Friday start of the season, Coppola finished with 8.0 innings, no runs on five hits, while striking out 12 batters and walking none. He improves to 2-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.24 across seven starts.
Rutgers will go for the series win against Michigan on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch at Bainton Field set for noon.
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