PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Thanks to a complete game shutout from Justin Sinibaldi, Rutgers baseball defeated UConn by a score of 3-0 in the series opener on Friday afternoon at Bainton Field. 

The Scarlet Knights (16-6) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh and that was all they needed with Sinibaldi completely shutting down the Huskies (8-12).

Sinibaldi set the tone right away with a 1-2-3 first inning. He then struck out two in the second, two in the fourth and three in the fifth work around a single and passed ball. 

UConn was game for a pitching duel, as Husky starter Gabe Van Emon matched Sinibaldi's first six innings with six shutout of his own. 

After a one-out single in the top of the seventh, Sinibaldi got a fielder's choice and caught the runner at first trying to steal to end the frame. 

While the Rutgers bats were kept quiet for six innings, they came alive in the seventh to take control of the game. After fouling off multiple pitches earlier in his at-bat, Tony Santa Maria sent a pitch the opposite way over the wall in right for a go-ahead solo home run. Josh Kuroda-Grauer singled right after and when Pete Durocher reached on a bunt, RU had first and third with no outs as UConn made a pitching change. 

Ty Doucette singled back up the middle to score Kuroda-Grauer and send Durocher to third. Johnny Volpe followed with a safety squeeze bunt that scored Durocher and gave the Scarlet Knights a 3-0 lead. 

That was more than enough for Sinibaldi, who set down the Huskies on just six pitches in the eighth. After two quick outs in the ninth, Sinibaldi had to buckle down after a two-out walk and single. On his 110th pitch of the day, Sinibaldi got a groundout to shortstop to finish off the complete-game shutout. 

Sinibaldi's final line was nine innings, zero runs on four hits, nine strikeouts and just one walk. It marked the first complete-game shutout for a Rutgers pitcher since Howie Brey's shutout against Penn State in 2016. 

Game two between Rutgers and UConn is now set for 6 p.m. on Saturday evening.

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