PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball used early offense and another strong day on the mound to beat Penn State 10-0 at Bainton Field on Saturday night.
The Scarlet Knights (29-18, 10-7) plated six runs in the first inning and cruised the rest of the way to clinch the Big Ten series over the Nittany Lions (24-17, 6-10).
Rutgers set the tone early, seizing control of the game with a six-spot in the first inning. A pair of singles and an error loaded the bases with no outs.
Evan Sleight roped a double into the gap to score a pair and make it 2-0.
Trevor Cohen then grounded out to add a third.
Jordan Sweeney (single),
Hugh Pinkney (double) and
Andy Axelson (single) each drove in a run of their own to push the lead to 6-0.
RU kept the pressure on in the second and third, scoring a pair of runs in each frame to extend the lead to double digits.
Lasko scored on a wild pitch and Brito scored on a sac fly from
Trevor Cohen in the second, making it 8-0. In the bottom of the third, Lasko doubled home Axelson and Brito drove in
Josh Kuroda-Grauer on an RBI groundout, pushing the Scarlet Knight advantage to 10-0.
That was all the scoring Rutgers would need and then some, as
Drew Conover was dominant on the bump. He threw 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, while tying a career high with nine strikeouts and walking four. He earned his team-best fifth win to improve to 5-3 on the season.
It was the third time in Conover's last four starts that he went at least seven innings and the second time in his last four starts he threw seven shutout innings (Apr. 16 vs. Michigan).
The win also marked the fourth shutout of the season for the Scarlet Knight pitching staff, which leads the Big Ten.
The series finale between Rutgers and Penn State is set for noon on Sunday afternoon at Bainton Field, with the Scarlet Knights looking to secure their second Big Ten sweep this year.
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