PISCATAWAY, NJ - Sophomore Jack Egbert (Rutherford,
NJ) and junior Shaun Parker (Westampton, NJ) turned in outstanding pitching
efforts as Rutgers swept a key, BIG EAST doubleheader from Boston College,
4-2 and 7-3, in baseball action at the Class of '53 Baseball Complex.
In the opener, Rutgers rebounded from a quick, 2-0 deficit to rally for the
win,
while in
the second game, a three-run home run in the second inning by Jeff Grose
(Iselin, NJ) sparked the offense. Rutgers, which has now won nine of its
last 10 conference games, improves to 16-14 overall, 10-3 in league play,
while BC is 18-16, 5-7. Rutgers also remains a ??-game back of first-place
Notre Dame, which swept a doubleheader from Seton Hall this afternoon.
In the first game, Egbert allowed two runs in the first inning, but fired
six shutout frames and retired 19 of the final 22 hitters to improve to 4-0
in league play and 5-3 overall. Egbert struck out the Ryan Leahy to open
the game, but allowed three-straight singles to push across the first run,
while an infield error led to the second BE run.
Rutgers came back in the bottom of the first to tie the game, as Grose and
Vinny Esposito (Middletown, NJ) sandwiched walks around an infield single
by Jeff Frazier (Toms River, NJ). DH Matt Wolski (Hamilton, NJ) then singled
into the shortstop hole, scoring Grose, while Frazier was thrown out trying
to score for the second out of the inning. After a walk to Steve Normane
(Pt. Pleasant, NJ) re-loaded the bases, Johnny Defendis (Staten Island, NY)
tied the game by working a walk, which forced home Esposito.
Rutgers then took the lead, 3-2, in the third when Frazier and Esposito
opened with back-to-back singles, putting runners at the corners. Wolski
hit into a 5-4-3 double play, with Frazier scoring on the play.
Egbert, meanwhile, steadied himself, retiring the side in the second and
third innings before allowing a single in the fourth, which was quickly erased
on a 4-6-3 double play. Nursing his 3-2 lead, Egbert set down the side in
order in the fifth, but ran into trouble in the sixth when BC put runners
on first and third with two outs. Facing Vinny Scavone, Egbert worked the
count to 3-2 before striking out Scavone with his trademark changeup.
Rutgers then added an insurance run in the sixth, when Badger tripled with
one out and scored on a crisp single from pinch-hitter Colin Gaynor (Toms
River, NJ). Given some additional breathing room, Egbert retired the side
in the seventh for the win. He allowed six hits and two runs (one earned)
in the game, walking one and striking out five. Badger (3-for-4, triple),
Frazier (2-for-4) and Esposito (2-for-2, double) led the 10-hit attack.
In the second game, Rutgers scored a quick run in the first inning when
Badger walked, stole second, and scored on a pair of errors. RU added four
more in the second, as Defendis singled home Normane (walk) and Grose homered
to right-center, plating Defendis and Badger (single). The score remained
5-0 into the seventh, as Parker cruised through the first six innings, allowing
just three hits. Tiring in the seventh, the Eagles reached him for three
runs, highlighted by Marco Albano's pinch-hit, two-run double to center.
The Eagles threatened for more, loading the bases with two outs, but RU reliever
Chris Lillis (Fair Haven, NJ) induced a fielder's choice to escape
the jam.
Rutgers then scored single runs in the eighth, on an RBI single from Wolski
and in the ninth, on a single by Badger, to seal the win. Lillis finished
the gave for Parker, picking up his third save in four games.
Parker (1-0) earned his first RU win. He pitched 6.2 innings, allowing five
hits and three runs. He walked eight and struck out five. Lillis allowed
two hits and no runs in 2.1 innings. Badger was a terror at the plate and
on the bases, finishing2-for-4 with two runs scored and three stolen bases.
Grose was also 2-for-4, while Gaynor was 1-for-2 with an RBI. Parker received
some outstanding defensive help from Frazier, who made three dazzling catches
in right field and nailed a runner at the plate, as well as the combination
of Bionde and Badger, which turned two double plays.
Rutgers returns to action on Tuesday, when it hosts Iona in a non-league
game at 3:00 p.m.
** 2003 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Boston College at Rutgers
Apr 19, 2003 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of 53 Complex)
Boston College 2 (18-15,5-6 BIG EAST) Rutgers 4 (15-14,9-3 BIG EAST)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
LEAHY, Ryan ss............. 4 0 0 0 BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 1 3 0
DiSCIPIO, Josh 2b.......... 3 1 1 0 GROSE, Jeff lf............. 2 1 0 0
LOCKE, Drew cf............. 3 1 2 0 GAYNOR, Colin ph.......... 1 0 1 1
LEDERHOS, Matt rf.......... 3 0 1 1 SHADE, Leon lf............ 0 0 0 0
MORGAN, Ryan 1b............ 3 0 0 1 FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 1 2 0
DELANEY, Jason 3b.......... 2 0 1 0 ESPOSITO, Vinny 3b......... 2 1 2 0
SCAVONE, Vinny dh.......... 3 0 1 0 WOLSKI, Matt dh............ 3 0 1 1
GREER, Garrett c........... 2 0 0 0 NORMANE, Steve 1b.......... 1 0 0 0
FLYNN, Michael ph......... 1 0 0 0 DEFENDIS, Johnny cf........ 2 0 0 1
WRIGHT, Eric lf............ 3 0 0 0 VASQUEZ, Alberto c......... 3 0 1 0
ELFELDT, Matt p............ 0 0 0 0 BIONDE, Mike ss............ 2 0 0 0
O'DONNELL, Matt p......... 0 0 0 0 EGBERT, Jack p............. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 27 2 6 2 Totals..................... 24 4 10 3
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Boston College...... 200 000 0 - 2 6 1
Rutgers............. 201 001 X - 4 10 1
-----------------------------------------
E - LEAHY; ESPOSITO. DP - Boston Coll. 1; Rutgers 1. LOB - Boston Coll. 5; Rutgers
10. 2B - ESPOSITO(9). 3B - BADGER(1). SH - WOLSKI; BIONDE. SB - LEDERHOS; DELANEY.
CS - BADGER.
Boston College IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
ELFELDT, Matt L,3-3....... 3.1 7 3 3 4 1 0 0 0 0 14 19 4 2
O'DONNELL, Matt ........... 2.2 3 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 10 13 2 4
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGBERT, Jack W,5-3........ 7.0 6 2 2 1 5 0 0 0 0 27 28 7 8
Strikeouts - LEAHY; DiSCIPIO; DELANEY; SCAVONE; WRIGHT; GROSE; WOLSKI; DEFENDIS.
Walks - DELANEY; GROSE; ESPOSITO 2; NORMANE 2; DEFENDIS.
Umpires -
Start: 12:00 pm Time: 2:00 Attendance: 150
Game: BC-1
** 2003 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Boston College at Rutgers
Apr 19, 2003 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of 53 Complex)
Boston College 3 (18-16,5-7 BE) Rutgers 7 (16-14,8-3 BE)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
LEAHY, Ryan ss............. 4 0 1 0 BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 2 2 1
WRIGHT, Eric lf............ 3 0 0 0 GROSE, Jeff lf............. 4 1 2 3
ALBANO, Marco ph/3b....... 2 1 1 2 FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 1 1 0
LOCKE, Drew cf............. 3 0 1 0 ESPOSITO, Vinny 3b......... 3 0 0 1
LEDERHOS, Matt p/dh........ 4 0 1 0 WOLSKI, Matt dh............ 3 0 1 1
MORGAN, Ryan 1b............ 4 0 0 1 NORMANE, Steve 1b.......... 3 1 0 0
DELANEY, Jason 3b/lf....... 4 0 1 0 DEFENDIS, Johnny cf........ 2 0 0 0
DiSCIPIO, Josh 2b.......... 4 0 1 0 GAYNOR, Colin c............ 2 2 1 1
FLYNN, Michael rf.......... 4 1 1 0 BIONDE, Mike ss............ 3 0 0 0
GREER, Garrett c........... 0 0 0 0 PARKER, Shaun p............ 0 0 0 0
McGILL, Shawn ph/c........ 0 1 0 0 LILLIS, Chris p........... 0 0 0 0
MARSELLO, Jake p.......... 0 0 0 0
GAUTHIER, Mike p.......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 32 3 7 3 Totals..................... 28 7 7 7
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Boston College...... 000 000 300 - 3 7 4
Rutgers............. 140 000 11X - 7 7 1
-------------------------------------------
E - WRIGHT; MORGAN; DELANEY; GAUTHIER; ESPOSITO. DP - Boston Coll. 3; Rutgers 2. LOB
- Boston Coll. 11; Rutgers 7. 2B - ALBANO; DELANEY. HR - GROSE. HBP - McGILL;
WOLSKI; DEFENDIS. SH - ESPOSITO; DEFENDIS. SB - LEAHY; LOCKE; DiSCIPIO; FLYNN;
BADGER 3; GROSE; WOLSKI. CS - DEFENDIS.
Boston College IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEDERHOS, Matt L,0-1...... 3.0 3 5 4 2 1 1 1 1 0 12 15 2 4
MARSELLO, Jake ............ 3.0 2 1 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 9 14 3 4
GAUTHIER, Mike ............ 2.0 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 7 9 2 3
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PARKER, Shaun W,1-0....... 6.2 5 3 3 8 5 0 0 0 0 24 32 6 7
LILLIS, Chris S,3......... 2.1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 8 9 0 4
WP - LEDERHOS; GAUTHIER. HB - LEDERHOS; MARSELLO; LILLIS. BK - LEDERHOS.
Strikeouts - WRIGHT 2; LEDERHOS 2; DELANEY; DiSCIPIO; FLYNN; FRAZIER; BIONDE. Walks
- LEAHY; LOCKE 2; LEDERHOS; MORGAN; GREER 2; McGILL; BADGER; GROSE; NORMANE; GAYNOR
2; BIONDE.
Umpires -
Start: 2:30 Time: 2:45 Attendance: 250
Game: BC-2
MARSELLO faced 1 batter in the 7th.
