Rutgers baseball (27-18, 8-7 Big Ten) walks it off against the Princeton Tigers (21-19, 12-6 Ivy League) in the bottom of the ninth to defeat their interstate rival 8-7.
Scoring
The Tigers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run by right fielder Scott Bandura in the top of the second inning. With a single by Cam Love in the bottom of the second inning, the Scarlet Knights tied the game 1-1.
Princeton broke the tie in the top of the third inning with a double by center fielder Brendan Cumming and a single by Bandura, giving the Tigers a 3-1 lead. Rutgers cut the Tigers’ lead to one in the bottom of the fifth inning with a single by centerfielder Ryan Lasko (3-2). Kyle Vinci’s two-run home run in the top of the sixth inning extended Princeton’s lead to 5-2.
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In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Scarlet Knights tied the game (5-5) with a triple by Lasko (2 RBIs) and a flyout by Sleight (1 RBI). The Tigers fought back, taking the lead with Vinci’s second two-run home run of the game (7-5).
In the bottom of the ninth inning, the Scarlet Knights were down by two with only three outs remaining. With a lead-off single by Rutgers short-stop Josh Kuroda-Grauer, Lasko tied the game with a two-run home run to left field. Lasko had five at-bats in this match-up, recording three hits, leading to five RBIs.
After Lasko’s game-tying home run, Rutgers had a single (Chris Brito) and a hit by pitch (Evan Sleight), leading to Jordan Sweeney’s walk-off single.
No one like two six! Ryan Lasko with the home run scores JKG and we are all tied up again!#TCD
B9 | Rutgers 7, Princeton 7 pic.twitter.com/EK05W4Atjz
— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) May 3, 2023
Pitching
Rutgers Wyatt Parliament started the game for the Scarlet Knights, recording 2.2 innings pitched, three hits, three runs, five strikeouts, and one walk. Rutgers reliever Garrett French (2-1) picked up his second win of the season, coming in with a bases-loaded jam in the top of the ninth inning to hold the Tigers’ lead to two.
The Scarlet Knights are back in action on Friday when they host the Penn State Nittany Lions for a three-game weekend series.
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