ANNAPOLIS, MD—Rutgers scored nine runs before NJIT got on the scoreboard and the Scarlet Knights cruised to a 10-3 non-conference baseball victory Saturday in a game played at Max Bishop Stadium on the campus of the United States Naval Academy.
 
A game against Navy that had been scheduled for later on Saturday was canceled. However, NJIT and Navy are still slated to play a doubleheader on Sunday, with the first pitch of Game One set for noon.
 
With Saturday's victory, Rutgers upped its season record to 8-10, while NJIT, which had won its four previous games, drops to 7-9.
 
The game was scoreless through the first two innings, but Rutgers broke out with five runs (2 earned) on three hits in the top of the third inning. The Big Ten Conference team tacked on three more runs to the lead in the fifth inning and added one more in the sixth for a 9-0 lead.
 
NJIT got all three of its runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and Rutgers added one more in the top of the eighth for the 10-3 final score.
 
Redshirt junior RHP Kyle Driscoll, the first of three Rutgers pitchers, got his first win in three 2016 decisions, tossing five innings of scoreless one-hit ball, while striking out seven and walking three.
 
John O'Reilly worked the next three innings and yielded all three NJIT runs, while allowing six of NJIT's seven hits. Kevin Romero finished up with a perfect ninth inning for the Scarlet Knights.
 
NJIT's ace senior left-hander Ian Bentley started and took the loss, dropping to 2-3 on the season. He lasted 4.2 innings and allowed six hits and eight runs (five earned), while striking out four and walking two.
 
Andres Fernandez came on for Bentley and allowed a pair of runs in 2.2 innings, while Chris Gibbons and Brett Lubreski each relieved for one inning and kept Rutgers off the board. Gibbons walked two and Lubreski allowed a hit.
 
Sophomore 3B Milo Freeman and junior SS Gaby Rosa each had two hits to lead Rutgers and Freeman drove in three runs. Senior C RJ Devish was 1-for-3, but scored two runs and also drove in a pair.
 
For NJIT, LF Evan Pietronico and SS Justin Etts each knocked out a pair of hits.
 
Freeman's two-out, two-run single was the big blow for Rutgers in the five-run third inning and the other runs came in on a fielder's choice, a balk, and a sacrifice fly.
 
Freeman had an RBI triple with two outs in the fifth and the Scarlet Knights also got runs on a wild pitch and a ground out in the frame.
 
Devish hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the ninth Rutgers run and the eighth inning Scarlet Knights run came home on a bases-loaded walk.
 
NJIT's three-run bottom of the sixth consisted of a run-scoring single by C Cody Kramer and a two-out, two run single by 3B Tom Brady, a freshman who has driven in seven runs through his first 15 college games.