MORGANTOWN, WV - After building an 8-2 lead in
game one - only to watch West Virginia rally for a 12-9 win - Rutgers
turned the tables in the nightcap, using a seven-run eighth inning en route
to a 12-4 win to salvage a split of today's BIG EAST doubleheader in Morgantown.
After idling for two days while it rained and snowed in Morgantown, the two
teams endured sub-30 degree weather during today's twinbill. With the split,
Rutgers is 6-11 overall and 1-1 in BE play.
West Virginia, using its momentum its rousing game one victory, scored single
runs in the first and second innings of the second game to build a 2-0 lead
against RU starter Jack Egbert (Rutherford, NJ). The Scarlet Knights, however,
scored three in the third to build a 3-2 lead, only to allow WVU to score twice
in the bottom of the fourth and reclaim the lead.
In the third, Mike Bionde (Pompton Plains, NJ) walked to open the inning and
moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. He then moved to third on a
single to left by Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ) and scored on a double by Jeff Frazier
(Toms River, NJ). Vinny Esposito (Middletown, NJ) grounded out to first, scoring
Grose, while Frazier scored on an RBI single by Matt Wolski (Hamilton, NJ).
Trailing 4-3 in the seventh, Rutgers reclaimed the lead, 5-4, on RBI singles
from Graig Badger (Union, NJ) and Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ). The bottom
of the seventh provided some tense moments, as WVU put runners at second and
third with one out against RU reliever Chris Lillis (Fair Haven, NJ). With the
tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second, Lillis struck out Derek Cisar
and induced a flyout from Kurtis Clinton to end the inning. After the close
call, the Scarlet Knights ended any WVU thoughts of a second comeback with a
resounding offensive effort in the eighth.
A pair of walks to Wolski and Steve Normane (Pt. Pleasant, NJ), sandwiched
around a hit by pitch with Alberto Vasquez (Jersey City, NJ), loaded the bases
with one out. Pinch-hitter Jamell Rosario (Vineland, NJ) then delivered the
first run with a sacrifice fly to center, while a walk to Badger re-loaded the
bases. Johnny Defendis (Staten Island, NY) then walked to force in another run,
extending the lead to 7-4, and Frazier then walked to load the bases for the
third time in the inning. The bases were emptied quickly however, as Esposito
delivered the inning's biggest blow, driving a three-run double into right
field. Lee Moskowitz (Edison, NJ), who pinch-ran for Wolski earlier in the inning,
singled home Esposito to finish the scoring. The game was called after eight
innings.
In the opening game, Rutgers built an 8-2 lead after 2 ?? innings, but
allowed the Mountaineeers to rally for a 12-9 victory. After WVU took a 2-0
lead in the first on an RBI single from Tim McCabe and a bases-loaded walk to
Kurtis Clinton, the Scarlet Knights struck for three in the second and five
more in the third.
Egbert (2-3) earned the win, allowing four runs in six innings of work, while
Lillis picked up his second save of the season. He allowed just one hit, striking
out three, in 2.0 innings. Rutgers collected 12 hits in the game, led by Frazier
(3-for-4) and Normane (2-for-2). Esposito was 1-for-5, but drove in four runs.
In the second, with Wolski on third and Nick Cerulo (Woodbridge, NJ) on second
with one out, Normane drove a double in the gap to plate both runners. Normane
then scored on a two-out passed ball after moving to third on an infield error.
In the third, Frazier opened with a double to left and, following a single to
center by Esposito, Wolski delivered both with a two-run single to left. Cerulo
then advanced Wolski to third on a sacrifice and Vasquez scored him with a single
to right-center. Normane, who doubled in the previous inning, then tripled to
right-center, scoring Vasquez and he scored two batters later when Badger doubled
into the gap in left-center.
WVU rallied for three runs in the third to cut the lead to 8-5, but Rutgers
added another in the fourth on sacrifice fly by Cerulo, who drove in Frazier.
In the bottom of the fourth, WVU tied the game with four runs, highlighted by
a three-run home run from Derek Cisar off RU reliever Erik Dial (Basking Ridge,
NJ). The Mountaineers put the game away with three runs in the sixth, while
Rutgers failed to dent WVU reliever Shawn Miller, who pitched 3.2 shutout, hitless
innings for the win.
OJ DeChristofano (Pequannock, NJ) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on
four hits in 2.0 innings. Frazier, Wolski and Normane had two hits apiece, with
Normane driving in three runs with a double and triple.
Rutgers banged out 20 total hits today, led by Normane (4-for-6) and Frazier
(5-for-7).
After 17-straight road games, Rutgers will open its home schedule tomorrow,
when it hosts Rider in a non-league game at 3:00 p.m.
** 2003 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Rutgers at West Virginia
Mar 31, 2003 at Morgantown, WV (Hawley Field)
Rutgers AB R H BI WVU AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 0 1 1 RINE, Jarod cf............. 4 2 1 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny lf........ 4 0 0 0 GRIMM, Eric 2b............. 2 3 1 0
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 3 2 2 0 FRITZ, Lee rf.............. 4 3 4 0
ESPOSITO, Vinny 3b......... 3 1 1 0 McCABE, Tim 3b............. 2 1 1 1
WOLSKI, Matt dh............ 2 2 2 2 CISAR, Derek dh............ 3 2 2 4
CERULO, Nick cf............ 2 1 1 1 CLINTON, Kurtis 1b......... 3 0 1 1
VASQUEZ, Alberto c......... 3 1 1 0 PSOMAS, Grant ss........... 4 1 2 3
NORMANE, Steve 1b.......... 4 2 2 3 BOWLING, Casey lf.......... 2 0 0 0
BIONDE, Mike ss............ 2 0 0 0 SERFASS, Jake ph/lf....... 0 0 0 0
RODRIGUEZ, Cory ph........ 1 0 0 0 D'AMICO, Travis c.......... 4 0 1 1
PARKER, Shaun p............ 0 0 0 0 DiANGELO, Jason p.......... 0 0 0 0
DIAL, Erik p.............. 0 0 0 0 MILLER, Shawn p........... 0 0 0 0
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p....... 0 0 0 0
ATCHISON, Sean p.......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 28 9 10 7 Totals..................... 28 12 13 10
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Rutgers............. 035 100 0 - 9 10 1
WVU................. 203 403 X - 12 13 1
-----------------------------------------
E - CERULO; Psomas. DP - Rutgers 2; WVU 1. LOB - Rutgers 7; WVU 7. 2B - BADGER;
FRAZIER; NORMANE; Grimm. 3B - NORMANE. HR - Cisar. HBP - FRAZIER; WOLSKI; Serfass.
SH - CERULO; VASQUEZ; McCabe. SF - CERULO. SB - Cisar.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WVU IP H R ER BB SO
------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------
PARKER, Shaun ...... 3.1 6 7 7 6 0 DiANGELO, Jason .... 3.1 10 9 8 1 2
DIAL, Erik ......... 0.1 2 2 2 0 0 MILLER, Shawn ...... 3.2 0 0 0 3 2
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ .. 2.0 4 3 3 1 2
ATCHISON, Sean ..... 0.1 1 0 0 0 1
Win - None. Loss - None. Save - None.
WP - DiAngelo. HB - ATCHISON; DiAngelo 2. PB - VASQUEZ; D'Amico 2.
Strikeouts - BADGER; DEFENDIS; FRAZIER; BIONDE; Rine; Clinton; Psomas. Walks -
BADGER; ESPOSITO; WOLSKI; BIONDE; Rine; Grimm 2; McCabe; Cisar; Clinton; Serfass.
Umpires - Home:Joe Volpe 1st:P.J. McConville 3rd:Mark Mayle
Start: 12:40 Time: Attendance:
** 2003 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Rutgers at West Virginia
Mar 31, 2003 at Morgantown, WV (Hawley Field)
Rutgers AB R H BI WVU AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 3 2 1 1 RINE, Jarod cf............. 5 2 4 3
GROSE, Jeff lf............. 3 1 1 0 GRIMM, Eric 2b............. 3 0 0 0
GAYNOR, Colin lf.......... 1 0 1 1 FRITZ, Lee rf.............. 4 0 2 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny lf....... 0 1 0 1 McCABE, Tim 3b............. 3 0 2 1
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 2 3 1 SERFASS, Jake lf........... 3 0 1 0
ESPOSITO, Vinny 3b......... 5 1 1 4 CISAR, Derek dh............ 4 0 0 0
WOLSKI, Matt dh............ 3 0 1 1 CLINTON, Kurtis 1b......... 4 0 0 0
MOSKOWITZ, Lee dh......... 1 1 1 1 PSOMAS, Grant ss........... 4 1 1 0
CERULO, Nick cf............ 4 0 0 0 D'AMICO, Travis c.......... 4 1 1 0
VASQUEZ, Alberto c......... 3 1 1 0 CLINE, Zac p............... 0 0 0 0
NORMANE, Steve 1b.......... 2 2 2 0 DUNHAM, Todd p............ 0 0 0 0
BIONDE, Mike ss............ 2 1 0 0
ROSARIO, Jamell ss........ 0 0 0 1
GROVER, Jason ss.......... 0 0 0 0
EGBERT, Jack p............. 0 0 0 0
LILLIS, Chris p........... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 31 12 12 11 Totals..................... 34 4 11 4
Score by Innings R H E
------------------------------------------
Rutgers............. 003 000 27 - 12 12 2
WVU................. 110 200 00 - 4 11 1
------------------------------------------
E - GROSE; FRAZIER; Serfass. DP - Rutgers 1. LOB - Rutgers 6; WVU 9. 2B - FRAZIER 2;
ESPOSITO; Rine; McCabe. HR - Rine. HBP - VASQUEZ; McCabe. SH - BADGER; CERULO. SF -
ROSARIO. SB - Psomas.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WVU IP H R ER BB SO
------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------
EGBERT, Jack ....... 6.0 10 4 4 2 6 CLINE, Zac ......... 7.1 10 7 7 3 3
LILLIS, Chris ...... 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 DUNHAM, Todd ....... 0.2 2 5 5 4 0
Win - Egbert Loss - Cline Save - Lillis
WP - EGBERT; Dunham. HB - LILLIS; Cline. PB - VASQUEZ.
Strikeouts - BADGER; ESPOSITO; CERULO; Grimm; Fritz 2; Serfass 2; Cisar; Psomas;
D'Amico 2. Walks - BADGER; DEFENDIS; FRAZIER; WOLSKI; NORMANE 2; BIONDE; Grimm;
Serfass.
Umpires - Home:P.J. McConville 1st:Mark Mayle 3rd:Joe Volpe
Start: 3:50 Time: Attendance:
