PISCATAWAY, NJ - Junior Greg Badger (Union, NJ)
led a high-powered offensive attack, as the Rutgers University baseball team
blanked
Wagner, 13-0, for its tenth-straight victory on Tuesday at the Class of '53
Baseball Complex. Badger was 3-for-4 with two triples and three RBI to help
RU improve to 22-14 overall, closing out its 14-game homestand with a 12-2
mark.
After a scoreless first inning, the Scarlet Knights exploded for seven runs
in the second. Sophomore Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ) singled to left field
for RU's second of 14 hits in the game, while junior Nick Cerulo (Woodbridge,
NJ) reached on a Wagner error and sophomore Jason Grover (Montgomery, NJ) walked
to load the bases for Badger. The second-basemen responded with a single through
the left side, scoring Gaynor and Cerulo for the Scarlet Knight's first
two runs of the game. Freshman Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ) lined a shot to right
field, plating Grover to make it 3-0. Sophomore Jeff Frazier (Toms River, NJ)
reached on an error to load the bases for the second time in the inning. A
wild pitch by Wagner starter Mike Sperduto brought home Badger and advanced
Grose to third and Frazier to second, while a sacrifice fly to left, scored
Grose for the inning's fifth run. Senior Matt Wolski (Hamilton, NJ),
who extended his hitting streak to 10 games, ripped a double to right field
and senior Steve Normane (Pt. Pleasant, NJ) sent a one bouncer over the left
field fence for a ground-rule double to bring home the final two runs of the
frame, making it 7-0.
Rutgers' bats cooled off in the third and fourth innings, with the Scarlet
Knight's lone hit coming off a Badger triple down the right field line
in the third. Rutgers then opened up its margin, tallying four more runs in
the fifth inning.
Following a leadoff walk to Normane and a single from Gaynor, Grover hit a
sac fly to left, scoring Normane and moving Gaynor within striking distance
at third base. Badger came through again, registering his second triple to
right field, bringing home Gaynor to take a 9-0 lead. The Scarlet Knights weren't
done yet as Grose reached base on an error, scoring Badger from third. Frazier,
who extended his hitting streak to 15 games in his first at bat, doubled down
the left field line, moving Grose to third. Grose helped the Scarlet Knights
jump out to an 11-0 lead, crossing home plate on a wild pitch from new Wagner
pitcher Neil Hoosier, who entered the game with two outs in the inning.
With Wagner threatening in the top half of the sixth, senior center-fielder
Leon Shade (Montclair, NJ), who was inserted into left field to start the inning,
made a spectacular catch to end the inning before hitting the left field fence
hard. He was shaken up, but remained in the game.
Rutgers tacked on two more runs in the seventh as freshman Johnny Defendis
(Staten Island, NY) and sophomore Cory Rodriguez (Bridgewater, NJ), who entered
the game in the inning, each singled and came around to score, making it 11-0.
Freshman OJ DeChristofano (Pequannock, NJ) (3-3) earned the win in his first
collegiate start, allowing five hits and no runs, while striking out seven
in six strong innings of work. Junior Eric Dial (Basking Ridge, NJ) came on
in relief in the seventh, while freshman Bobby Acampora (Ocean Twp. NJ) and
senior Sean Atchison (Florham Park, NJ) came in to pitch the eighth and ninth
innings respectively. The three relievers combined to surrender just one hit
in the final three frames.
Sperduto (0-2) suffered the loss, allowing 11 runs (five earned) on 10 hits,
while striking out two batters in 4.2 innings.
Rutgers will travel to Easton, PA, on Wednesday to face Lafayette at 3:30
p.m. for its first road contest since April 6.
** 2003 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Wagner at Rutgers
Apr 29, 2003 at Piscataway, NJ
Wagner 0 (9-31) Rutgers 13 (22-14)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Distefano lf............... 3 0 1 0 BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 2 3 3
Papa cf.................... 4 0 1 0 RODRIGUEZ, Cory ph/3b..... 2 1 1 0
Sugluizzo rf............... 4 0 0 0 GROSE, Jeff lf............. 3 2 1 1
Agnello 3b................. 4 0 0 0 SHADE, Leon lf............ 1 0 0 0
Laino dh................... 4 0 2 0 FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 1 2 0
Malfettano 2b.............. 3 0 1 0 ROSARIO, Jamell ph/rf..... 0 0 0 0
Scrocca ph................ 1 0 0 0 ESPOSITO, Vinny 3b......... 2 0 0 1
Corby 1b................... 4 0 0 0 BIONDE, Mike ph/2b........ 1 0 1 0
Gioielli ss................ 4 0 1 0 WOLSKI, Matt dh............ 3 1 1 1
Mercurio c................. 2 0 0 0 MOSKOWITZ, Lee ph/dh...... 1 0 0 1
Picarello c............... 1 0 0 0 NORMANE, Steve 1b.......... 2 1 1 1
Spercluto p................ 0 0 0 0 HOOK, Steve ph/1b......... 2 0 0 0
Hoosier p................. 0 0 0 0 GAYNOR, Colin c............ 4 2 2 0
Kelly p................... 0 0 0 0 CERULO, Nick cf............ 3 1 0 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny cf....... 2 1 2 0
GROVER, Jason ss........... 3 1 0 1
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p........ 0 0 0 0
DIAL, Erik p.............. 0 0 0 0
ACOMPORA, Bobby p......... 0 0 0 0
ATCHISON, Sean p.......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 34 0 6 0 Totals..................... 37 13 14 9
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Wagner.............. 000 000 000 - 0 6 3
Rutgers............. 070 040 20X - 13 14 0
-------------------------------------------
E - Agnello 2; Spercluto. DP - Wagner 1. LOB - Wagner 8; Rutgers 9. 2B - Papa(4);
FRAZIER(13); WOLSKI(7); NORMANE(9). 3B - BADGER 2(3). HBP - Distefano. SF -
ESPOSITO; GROVER. CS - GROSE(2).
Wagner IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spercluto L,0-2........... 4.2 10 11 5 4 2 2 0 0 0 24 30 8 3
Hoosier ................... 2.1 3 2 1 2 4 1 0 0 0 10 12 2 1
Kelly ..................... 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 1 1
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ W,3-3... 6.0 5 0 0 0 7 2 0 1 0 24 25 6 6
DIAL, Erik ................ 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 4 4 1 1
ACOMPORA, Bobby ........... 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 2
ATCHISON, Sean ............ 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 1
WP - Spercluto 2; Hoosier; DECHRISTOFNO 2; DIAL. HB - DECHRISTOFNO. PB - Picarello;
GAYNOR.
Strikeouts - Distefano; Papa; Sugluizzo 2; Agnello; Malfettano 2; Corby; Mercurio;
BADGER; ESPOSITO; HOOK 2; CERULO; GROVER. Walks - GROSE; ROSARIO; ESPOSITO;
MOSKOWITZ; NORMANE; GAYNOR; GROVER.
Umpires -
Start: 3:00 Time: 2:32 Attendance: 103
