PEORIA, Ariz. – Washington State sophomore righthander Zane Mills struck out 10 and the Cougars claimed the series-opener 9-2 with Rutgers at the Peoria Sports Complex Friday afternoon.
 
Mills improved to 3-0 after setting a career-high in strikeouts and allowed two unearned runs on five hits in 7.2 innings. WSU scored nine unanswered runs and received two-hit games from Kyle Manzardo, Justin Van De Brake and Collin Montez while Van De Brake and Kodie Kolden each drove in a pair of runs. Rutgers dropped to 4-4 after committing four errors.
 
In the second, Rutgers took advantage of a Cougar error and a wild pitch to push a pair of runs across on an RBI-single and RBI-groundout.
 
The Cougars answered in the third inning as Brady Hill and Preston Clifford worked walks to start the frame and Jack Smith followed with a sacrifice bunt. With one out and runners on second and third, Manzardo lined a comebacker off the Rutgers starting pitcher and Hill raced home for the run.
 
WSU evened things up in the fourth as Montez led off the frame with a double to left-centerfield, was bunted to third by Jake Meyer and scored on Kolden's RBI-groundout to shortstop.
 
Mills worked out of a jam in the fifth inning as Rutgers put a runner on third with one out but the righthander ended the threat with a shallow flyout to left and softly hit groundout to Jack Smith at third. In the bottom of the frame, the Cougars took the lead with three runs including a pair with two outs. Hill reached on a Rutgers throwing error to start the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on a groundout. Hill then came across after an RBI-groundout from Smith but the Cougars kept things going as Manzardo followed with a single to right that Rutgers misplayed and allowed Manzardo to race around to third. Van De Brake followed with an RBI-single to center and Montez hammered a triple deep to right-centerfield to make it 5-2 Cougars.
 
In the sixth, WSU added another two-out run as Kolden walked to start the inning, moved to second a sacrifice bunt and to third on a groundout and later scored after Preston Clifford lined a ball off the firstbaseman's glove for an RBI-single and a 6-2 lead.
 
In the seventh, Mills allowed a leadoff double to left but shut the door by striking out the next three, reaching the 10-strikeout mark for the first time in his career. The Cougars tacked on three runs in the eighth inning on a Van De Brake RBI-groundout, a Jake Meyer RBI-sacrifice fly and a Kolden RBI-single.
 
Junior reliever Brody Barnum stranded a pair of runners after getting the final out of the eighth and worked a scoreless ninth to seal the win.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Manzardo singled in the 1st inning, has hit safely in all 9 games to start 2020
Jake Meyer walked in the 2^nd inning to extend his on-base streak to 7 games
 
NEXT UP
The series with Rutgers continues Saturday at 5:35 p.m. (PT) at the Peoria Sports Complex on Mariners Field No. 2.