Box Score

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Rutgers baseball battled back from an early hole, but came up short in a 9-6 loss at Florida Gulf Coast Tuesday at Swanson Stadium. It was the front end of a two-game midweek series between the Scarlet Knights and the Eagles.

At the plate, all nine starters reached base for RU (6-9), with eight collecting a hit. Freshman Jawuan Harris (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) highlighted the attack with his second home run of the season, a long drive over the wall in left field in the third inning. Senior R.J. Devish (Beachwood, N.J.) went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a double and a stolen base, while fifth-year senior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) knocked in two runs.

The bullpen combined for 6.1 innings, striking out nine. Junior Ryan Fleming (Churchville, Pa.) pitched a season-long 3.1 innings with no earned runs allowed and three punchouts. Following up, freshman Kevin Romero (Garfield, N.J.) recorded a strikeout on five of the six outs he recorded. And junior Colin Bohnert (West Caldwell, N.J.) finished up with a scoreless frame.

The Eagles (8-9) took an early lead with an unearned run in the first and three more in the second on a Jake Noll home run. The Scarlet Knights would chip back on Harris' two-run home run in the top of the third to make it 4-2. Junior Gaby Rosa (Perth Amboy, N.J.) had previously singled in the inning.

However, the hosts added two in the fourth to re-establish a four-run lead.

In the sixth, Devish hit a leadoff single and Suseck blasted an RBI double to make it a 6-3 ballgame. The Eagles jumped back again, this time with a three-run rally on four hits in their half of the sixth.

The Scarlet Knights' best inning of the night came in the seventh with three runs across, cutting into the deficit. Fifth-year senior John Jennings (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) started it with a single to center and freshman Mike Martinez (West New York, N.J.) followed with a hit of his own. After an out, Harris drew a walk to load up the bases. Devish took advantage of the situation with a two-run double. One batter later, Suseck drove a sacrifice fly.

That would turn out to be the final runs of the game, as Garrison Vandeventer logged the final seven outs for the FGCU save. Parker Hamilton (2-1) earned his second win of the year with three runs permitted over three innings of relief. For Rutgers, freshman Serafino Brito (Oakland, N.J.) (2-2) suffered the loss in his second start of the year.

Tuesday marked just the third all-time meeting between Rutgers and Florida Gulf Coast, with FGCU picking up its first win in the matchup.

Game two of the midweek set is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Swanson Stadium. Freshman Dante Scafidi (Washington Township, N.J.) will get the ball for the Scarlet Knights on the mound.

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