PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball rode dominant pitching and timely offense to win its home opener against Wagner by a score of 7-2 on Tuesday night at Bainton Field.

With the game tied at 1-1 going into the bottom of the sixth, the Scarlet Knights (9-2) scored five unanswered to take control of the game and defeat the Seahawks (0-11) under the lights in Piscataway.

Jordan Falco got the start for Rutgers and delivered four quality innings, giving up one unearned run on one hit, while striking out five and walking three. 

After falling behind in the second on the unearned run, Rutgers evened the game thanks to a leadoff double from Josh Kuroda-Grauer, who would later come around to score on an RBI groundout from Hugh Pinkney.

After two shutout innings from Ben Gorski, RU took control of the game in the bottom of the sixth. After leading off the frame with a single, Trevor Cohen gave the Scarlet Knights the lead when he scored from third on a balk. Jackson Natili then drove in Kuroda-Grauer with a single up the middle. 

In the bottom of the seventh, RJ Johnson Jr. added to the lead with a safety squeeze bunt that plated Cameron Love. Tony Santa Maria delivered the big blow of the frame, a two-run double that brought in Johnson Jr. and Pete Durocher and extended the lead to 6-1. 

Thanks to two walks to start the next inning, the Seahawks got a run back in the eighth on a sac fly. Rutgers responded in the bottom half when Jordan Sweeney dropped in an RBI double to score Scotty Young, who entered as a pinch runner earlier in the frame. 

Sonny Fauci would strike out three in a scoreless ninth to lock up the victory. 

Ben Gorski earned the win to improve to 1-0, going two innings with no runs, no hits, one strikeout and one walk. 

Donovan Zsak also made his home debut and had a strikeout as he retired all three batters he faced in the eighth. 

Rutgers is back on the road this weekend for a three-game series at High Point, with game one set for 5 p.m. on Friday evening. 

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