PISCATAWAY, NJ – Fernando Perez hit a third-inning
grand slam and Joshua Flinn allowed just three hits and one run over 7.2 innings
as Columbia defeated Rutgers, 11-1, today at the Class of ’53 Baseball
Complex. The Lions scored five unearned runs in the third inning against RU
starter Jim Jansen (Pascack Valley, NJ) and surrendered a solo home run to
Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ) as the lone offensive highlight for Rutgers.
With the loss, RU is now 12-14, while Columbia improves to 16-19.
Jansen danced out of trouble in the first and pitched a 1-2-3 second inning
before the Lions broke through in the third. A leadoff single and an infield
error put runners at first and third while a sacrifice fly by Mike Baxter pushed
across the first run. With two away, Jansen issued back-to-back walks to load
the bases for Perez, who unloaded his third home run of the season for a 5-0
lead.
In the fourth, with Erik Dial (Basking Ridge, NJ) on the mound, a two-run
home run by Mike Hess extended the lead to 7-0 while two more runs in the fifth,
on a bases-loaded hit by pitch and another sacrifice fly, increased it to 9-0.
Columbia finished its scoring with two additional runs in the top of the ninth
on a double by Andrew Hooker.
Lost in the setback today was the first Rutgers home run for Gaynor, who was
making his first start behind the plate. Rutgers also received strong relief
pitching from freshmen Bobby Acamopora (Ocean Twp., NJ) and OJ DeChristofano
(Pequannock, NJ). Acampora fired 2.0 shutout innings and DeChristofano followed
with a shutout inning of relief as well.
Jansen (1-2) was saddled with the loss, allowing two hits and five runs in
3.0 innings.
Rutgers returns to action, and BIG EAST play, tomorrow with a noon doubleheader
vs. St. John’s. Freshman Matt Pustay (Hamilton, NJ) will start the first
game, followed by sophomore Tom Malafronte (Somerville, NJ). St. John’s,
at 7-3, leads Rutgers (6-3) by ½ game for the fourth and final BIG EAST
playoff spot.
** 2003 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Columbia at Rutgers
Columbia 11 (16-19) Rutgers 1 (12-14)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Livermore 2b............... 4 1 1 0 BADGER, Graig 2b........... 2 0 0 0
Hess ss.................... 4 1 1 2 WOLSKI, Matt dh............ 1 0 0 0
Baxter 3b/1b............... 4 0 1 1 ROSARIO, Jamell dh........ 1 0 0 0
Schmidt 1b/c............... 4 3 2 0 FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 0 1 0
Solaro dh.................. 4 3 2 0 ESPOSITO, Vinny 3b......... 3 0 1 0
Perez cf................... 5 1 2 4 NORMANE, Steve 1b.......... 3 0 0 0
Waters lf.................. 3 0 0 1 DEFENDIS, Johnny cf........ 3 0 1 0
Anderson lf............... 1 0 0 0 GAYNOR, Colin c............ 3 1 1 1
Hooker rf.................. 4 1 2 3 SHADE, Leon lf............. 4 0 0 0
DeFazio c.................. 5 1 1 0 BIONDE, Mike ss............ 2 0 0 0
Compton 3b................ 0 0 0 0 GROVER, Jason ss.......... 1 0 0 0
Flinn p.................... 0 0 0 0 JANSEN, Jim p.............. 0 0 0 0
Mullens p................. 0 0 0 0 DIAL, Erik p.............. 0 0 0 0
ACOMPORA, Bobby p......... 0 0 0 0
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p....... 0 0 0 0
LILLIS, Chris p........... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 38 11 12 11 Totals..................... 27 1 4 1
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Columbia............ 005 220 002 - 11 12 1
Rutgers............. 000 000 100 - 1 4 1
-------------------------------------------
E - Hess(8); ESPOSITO(3). DP - Columbia 3. LOB - Columbia 7; Rutgers 8. 2B -
Hooker(3). HR - Hess(4); Perez(3); GAYNOR(1). HBP - Hess; Waters; ESPOSITO;
DEFENDIS. SF - Baxter(4); Hooker(2). SB - Baxter(11); DeFazio(1). CS - ESPOSITO(2).
Columbia IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flinn W,1-0............... 7.2 3 1 1 7 2 0 0 1 0 22 30 12 4
Mullens ................... 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 5 6 3 0
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
JANSEN, Jim L,1-2......... 3.0 2 5 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 11 16 4 5
DIAL, Erik ................ 2.0 5 4 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 10 12 3 3
ACOMPORA, Bobby ........... 2.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 7 7 2 2
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ ......... 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 2 0
LILLIS, Chris ............. 1.0 3 2 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 6 6 1 0
WP - Mullens. HB - Flinn; Mullens; JANSEN; DIAL.
Strikeouts - Perez 2; Waters; DeFazio 2; BADGER 2; NORMANE. Walks - Livermore;
Schmidt; Solaro; BADGER 2; WOLSKI 2; NORMANE; GAYNOR; GROVER.
Umpires -
Start: Time: 2:50 Attendance: 250
Game: COLUMBIA
