EAST LANSING, Mich. – Rutgers baseball won a 4-2 thriller in its Big Ten opener on Friday evening against Michigan State. 

The Scarlet Knights (19-7, 1-0) were down to their final five outs and trailed the Spartans (10-14, 1-3) 2-0, but a two-run home run from RJ Johnson Jr. and a two-run single from Cameron Love brought them back and gave them the victory.

MSU took an early lead in the bottom of the first, with the hosts rallying with two outs. After a walk and stolen base, a pair of two-out singles brought home a run each to make it 2-0. After that, the teams traded zeroes for six straight innings. 

After the early runs, Rutgers starter Justin Sinibaldi posted five straight shutout innings to register another quality start, going six innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits, striking out four and walking just one. 

Ben Gorski and Donovan Zsak held the Spartans off the board in the seventh and eighth, with Gorski striking out a pair in the seventh and Zsak stranding the go-ahead run on third to end the eighth. 

In the top of the eighth with one out, Johnson Jr. worked a 10-pitch at-bat with numerous foul balls extending his trip to the plate. When he finally got his pitch, he launched it over the wall in right field and into the Red Cedar River for a game-tying two-run home run. 

After Zsak's scoreless bottom of the eighth, Ty Doucette led off the ninth with a double. Pete Ciuffreda pinch-ran and the Spartan reliever issued a pair of walks to load the bases. After falling behind 0-2 in the count, Love went down and grounded a ball up the middle for a two-run single to give the Scarlet Knights the 4-2 advantage. 

Joey DeChiaro entered for the bottom of the ninth and stranded the tying run on the bases with two strikeouts and a pop-up to secure his fourth save of the season and finish off the RU victory. 

Game two between Rutgers and Michigan State is set for a 3:35 p.m. first pitch on Saturday afternoon.

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