Volpe the Hero as Baseball Walks Off No. 21 Nebraska

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Thanks to a walk-off single from Johnny Volpe in the bottom of the 11th inning, Rutgers baseball defeated No. 21 Nebraska 7-6 on Friday night at Bainton Field. 

The Scarlet Knights (21-12, 2-5) were down 6-2 in the eighth, but scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extras and ultimately defeat the Cornhuskers (22-9, 5-2) in the series opener.

Friday night’s contest was a pitching showcase through five, with RU starter Justin Sinibaldi and NU starter Brett Sears each posting five straight zeroes to start the game. 

In the top of the sixth, the Cornhuskers rallied to take the lead, starting with a one-out double. After a wild pitch put runners on second and third, a sac fly gave Nebraska a 1-0 lead and a two-out, two-run single would make it 3-0. 

The Scarlet Knights answered in the bottom half, kickstarted by a one-out single from Trevor Cohen. Josh Kuroda-Grauer doubled to put runners on second and third before Ty Doucette singled into left to score them both and make it 3-2. 

After a scoreless seventh, The Cornhuskers hit a three-run home run with two outs in the eighth to extend their lead to 6-2. 

RU tried to rally again in the bottom of the eighth, with Pete Durocher singling home Cohen with two outs to make it 6-3.

Down to their final two outs in the ninth, the bottom of the Rutgers lineup started another rally. Nine hitter RJ Johnson Jr. singled, following by another single from Cameron Love. Cohen walked to load the bases and the Cornhuskers made a pitching change.

Kuroda-Grauer made it a one-run game with a double into right-center. After Doucette was intentionally walked to load the bases, Tony Santa Maria singled into right to score Cohen. A popout and groundout ended the inning, but RU was able to force extra innings with the rally. 

Donovan Zsak took the mound in the 10th and struck out three Cornhuskers. In the bottom of the 10th, Jackson Natili was hit by a pitch, but the pinch runner Scotty Young was stranded on second to end the inning. Zsak then worked around a leadoff double in the 11th with two popouts and a strikeout.

In the bottom of the 11th, Kuroda-Grauer led off with an infield single and Doucette walked to put two men on. They moved up to second and third with two outs, setting the stage for Johnny Volpe. After falling behind 1-2, Volpe sent a grounder back up the middle to score Kuroda-Grauer and give Rutgers the 7-6 victory. 

Zsak earned the win with his two shutout innings of relief.