NORFOLK, Va. – Rutgers baseball continued its torrid start to the season on Saturday, using timely offense and clutch relief pitching to beat Old Dominion 7-6. The Scarlet Knights (5-0) rode a go-ahead home run from RJ Johnson Jr. and 4.1 scoreless innings from its bullpen to take down the Monarchs (3-3) at Bud Metheny Ballpark and secure the series victory. 

For the fourth consecutive game, RU scored in the top of the first to take control of the game. Johnson Jr. dropped down a perfect bunt single to start things off. With two o0uts, Josh Kuroda-Grauer and Jackson Natili each connected with RBI singles to make it 2-0. 

The Scarlet Knight lead extended to 4-0 in the third thanks to another RBI single from Natili and an error on a ball hit by Jordan Sweeney. 

Johnny Volpe (single) and Pete Durocher (double) each drove in a run in the fifth to push it to a 6-0 advantage. 

Old Dominion came roaring back in the fifth, scoring six runs to tie the game up. Back-to-back RBI singles plated a trio to make it 6-3. A two-run double and another RBI single made it 6-6. Sonny Fauci came in with two outs and recorded a strikeout to end the frame. 

In the top of the seventh, Johnson Jr. cranked a 2-0 pitch deep over the wall in right-center for a go-ahead home run – his first in a Rutgers uniform. The big fly made it 7-6 in favor of RU and set the stage for the bullpen to close things out. 

Sam Portnoy got a strikeout to start the bottom of the seventh. After a one-out single, Joe Mazza entered and induced a double-play to end the frame. Mazza remained in for the eighth and got a strikeout and a pair of groundouts to keep ODU off the scoreboard. 

The drama reached a climax in the bottom of the ninth when Joey DeChiaro entered for the save, facing his former team in Old Dominion where he played for four seasons.

DeChiaro walked the leadoff hitter, got the next two outs on a sac bunt and strikeout and an intentional walk put runners on the corners with two outs. DeChiaro buckled down and struck out the next hitter on three pitches to finish off the victory and help RU clinch the series. 

Johnson Jr. (2-for-4, HR), Kuroda-Grauer (3-for-5, 3 R), Natili (2-for-4, 2 RBI) and Durocher (2-for-5, RBI) all had multi-hit efforts to lead the way on offense. 

Fauci earned the win on the mound to improve to 2-0 and DeChiaro picked up his second save of the season. 

Rutgers will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., streaming live on ESPN+.

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