Rutgers Baseball keeps rolling, takes weekend series from Mercer

Rutgers got off to a slow start this season but has turned it around in recent weeks. The Scarlet Knights entered a weekend series against Mercer having won five in a row and continued to roll in Macon, GA.

Rutgers took two out of three from Mercer, highlighted by a 3-2 win in Sunday in the runner match.

After a strong offensive weekend, the Scarlet Knights handed the ball to Jake Marshall and rode their pitching staff to a win in the finale. Marshall pitched 5+ innings allowing two runs, one earned, on one hit, striking out eight, and walking just one. He earned his second win of the year.

Rutgers got started early with Chris Brito hitting a home run to put the Scarlet Knights up 1-0. Jordan Sweeney and Evan Sleight drove in runs in the fourth inning to put Rutgers up 3-0.

Marshall allowed both runs in the sixth but Sam Bello weathered the storm with three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit. Ben Gorski notched his third save of the year with a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts.

This victory came after scoring 32 runs over the first two games of the series. The opener was a 23-6 victory where the Scarlet Knights totaled 23 hits.

Sweeney finished 4-for-6 with six RBI while Ryan Lasko and Cameron Love drove in a combined seven runs at the top of the lineup.

The offense that we saw last season is beginning to come alive. As a team, Rutgers is batting .299, which is third in the Big Ten. It is currently fourth in hits (190) and runs scored (145).

The Scarlet Knights will be back in action on Tuesday and Wednesday with home games against Rider and Lafayette. This weekend, Rutgers will travel to Storrs, CT for a three-game set against UConn.