Rutgers Baseball drops series to Purdue

Rutgers Baseball entered the weekend having won six in a row and 10 of its last 11. The Scarlet Knights traveled to West Lafayette to take on a struggling Purdue team but lost two out of three.

Friday, April 28: Purdue 6, Rutgers 1

In the seres opener, the Boilermakers got to Christian Coppola early, taking a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning.

The bats struggled as well as Rutgers finished with just five hits. Ryan Lasko led the way going 2-for-4 while Andy Axelson drove in the only run of the game for the Scarlet Knights.

Sam Bello tossed a scoreless eighth inning out of the bullpen.

Saturday, April 29: Purdue 6, Rutgers 3

For the second consecutive game in the series, a Rutgers’ starter was credited with five earned runs as Purdue jumped out quick once again.

Chris Brito put Rutgers on top in the first inning with an RBI single but the Boilermakers were ready. They scored four runs in the third inning to take control at 5-1.

Jordan Sweeney crushed a two-run home run to center field to cut the deficit in half but Rutgers would go scoreless over the final five innings.

Josh Kuroda-Grauer finished 2-for-4. The top five in the order for the Scarlet Knights all logged at least one hit.

Sunday, April 30: Rutgers 9, Purdue 5

Rutgers salvaged the series finale on Sunday afternoon with a strong offensive showing — but it did not come until late.

Once again, Purdue jumped out early and took a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning. The Scarlet Knights struggled on the mound all weekend but Jake Marshall weathered the storm with four scoreless innings to close out the game. He allowed just two hits while striking out four and walking one to earn the win.

Sweeney totaled four RBI with the first coming on a single in the fifth. He would add a three-run home run in the seventh. This would account for three of six runs for Rutgers in the inning.

Kuroda-Grauer added an RBI on a triple before Brito and Evan Sleight drove in one.

The Scarlet Knights improved to 26-18, 8-7 in Big Ten play, with the victory in the finale. The Scarlet Knights will host a standalone game against Princeton on Wednesday before welcoming Penn State to Piscataway for a three-game set.