MINNEAPOLIS – Rutgers baseball was unable to overcome an early deficit and dropped the series opener to Minnesota by a score of 5-3 on Thursday night at Siebert Field in Minneapolis.
The Scarlet Knights (32-20, 13-9) trailed from the first inning on and were unable to string together enough offense to stage a comeback against the Golden Gophers (17-33, 9-13).
Minnesota came out firing with a four-spot in the first inning to set the tone for the night. After back-to-back walks to start the frame, the Gophers used four different RBI singles to take a 4-0 lead.
With starter
Christian Coppola exiting after two innings,
Grant Besser bridged the gap to the late innings with one of his best efforts in a Rutgers uniform. He threw five-plus innings of relief, giving up just one run on four hits, while striking out three and walking none. He worked from the third inning into the eighth, eventually making way for
Garrett French after a leadoff double.
While French gave up a single to his first batter, he set down the next three in order – including two strikeouts – to end the frame.
The Scarlet Knights started to chip away in the fifth, with
Trevor Cohen driving in
Andy Axelson with an RBI groundout.
Hugh Pinkney then brought home
Evan Sleight with a two-out single in the sixth to close the gap to 4-2.
Pinkney nearly got another run back in the eighth when he doubled off the wall in left, but Minnesota put together a strong relay to cut down
Chris Brito at home plate and end the inning.
The Gophers added a run on a sac fly in the eighth to make it 5-2.
While RU loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, the only offense it was able to generate was a sac fly to push the score to 5-3. A pop out to the catcher would end the rally and the game.
Game two between Rutgers and Minnesota is set for 7 p.m. ET on Friday evening at Siebert Field and will be streamed via B1G+.
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