Rutgers Baseball trailed 7-0 early on in their midweek matchup against the NJIT and it looked like all hope was lost, but luckily the bats did wake up to score nine unanswered runs to complete a huge come from behind victory.
The game started out with the Scarlet Knights pitchers continuing to show signs of struggle. Through the first three innings, Justin Sinibaldi and Wyatt Parliament allowed eight hits, seven runs (four earned), two walks, and three strikeouts.
John Modugno came in for his first relief appearance of the season and did well, throwing one inning while allowing no hits, no runs, one walk, and two strikeouts.
After that it Sam Portnoy was lights out as he earned his second win of the season. He pitched two innings allowing no hits, no runs, no walks, and four strikeouts. Finally, Joe Mazza came in for cleanup duty earning his second save of the season, throwing 1.1 innings allowing one hit, no runs, one walk, and one strikeout.
At the plate, Rutgers also shows signs of struggle early on as they couldn't get many guys on base. As stated above, luckily the offense woke up in the fifth and sixth innings, partially in thanks to outfielder Evan Sleight had a huge game as he went 4-for-5 with a solo home run and two runs scored.
Freshman DH Maximus Martin also had a big game going 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Infielder Chris Brito also hit his fourth home run of the season which is tied for first on the club with Sleight.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Rutgers Baseball will open up Big Ten Conference play this weekend as Michigan State comes to town for a three game series.
Drew Conover is the projected to get the nod in game one on Friday afternoon with first pitch set for 3:00pm ET. The game can be streamed on BTN+.
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