Rutgers Baseball - Eric Miller/Rutgers Athletics
Rutgers Baseball held its first game of the series against Illinois on Friday, May 12. The Scarlet Knights got a 5-4 win over Illinois at Bainton Field. Here is a look back on the win and its importance.
Rutgers Baseball vs Illinois
With the baseball season winding down, every win is important. Getting the series win over Illinois is slightly more crucial, as it is the last home series for Rutgers baseball. Ending strong at home would help the team, especially after they recently swept Penn State at home.
Rutgers was fortunate to get such an early lead. By the end of the fourth inning, the Scarlet Knights were up 5-0, but throughout the rest of the game Illinois was able to make the score 5-4. While this was great that Rutgers was able to still win, they will need to clean up their last couple of innings moving forward.
Of the five runs scored, two of them came from Trevor Cohen, according to Rutgers University Athletics. Cohen is just a freshman and will have years of growth with the Scarlet Knights still. His two runs were a big factor in the Rutgers baseball win. The others to score runs were: Ryan Lasko, Cameron Love, and Andy Axelson.
Not only did Rutgers win against Illinois, this is their sixth win in a row. Five of those wins were against Big Ten opponents. They are officially 15-3 at home and 16-3 in their last 19 games. This is a big turnaround for Rutgers Baseball. They now have an overall record of 31-18, which says a lot when they have gone 16-3 in their last 19. This means their record went from 15-15 to 31-18.
Now, the Scarlet Knights have a 12-7 conference record. Their next game will be tonight at 6 pm against Illinois for the Rutgers Baseball Senior Day. If they win tonight they win the series. Aside from the last two games against Illinois, Rutgers will face Albany for one game on Tuesday. They will then head to Minneapolis to face Minnesota in the final series of the season.
Rutgers is now ranked in third in the Big Ten for Men’s Baseball.
