STORRS, CT – After winning the opener, 5-3, to extend
its winning streak to 13 games, the Rutgers baseball team suffered a 10-7,
game two loss, splitting a doubleheader with UConn today at J.O. Christian
Field. In the opener, Jack Egbert (Rutherford, NJ) won his seventh-straight
game and improved to 6-0 in the BIG EAST with another strong outing, but in
the nightcap, a costly fielding error ended RU’s bid for a 14th-straight
win. With the split, Rutgers is now 25-15 overall and 14-4 in BIG EAST play.
With the opening game tied at 1-1, Rutgers pushed across two more runs in
the sixth to take a 3-1 lead, using aggressive base-running to score the runs.
Vinny Esposito (Middletown, NJ) began the inning with a walk and moved to second
on a groundout by Matt Wolski (Hamilton, NJ). UC starter Nick Tucci then walked
Steve Normane (Pt. Pleasant, NJ) intentionally to set up a double play, but
that strategy was negated when Tucci’s first pitch to Nick Cerulo (Woodbridge,
NJ) squirted away from catcher Mike Leonard and Esposito hustled ahead of the
throw to third. Cerulo then drove a fly ball to right, scoring Esposito with
the first run of the inning and sending Normane to third.
A walk to Alberto Vasquez (Jersey City, NJ), the third free pass of the inning,
put runners at the corners. Rutgers then executed a double-steal, as Vasquez
slid safely into second and Normane crossed home without a throw for a 3-1
lead. Mike Bionde (Pompton Plains, NJ) singled to left two pitches later, plating
Vasquez with yet another run.
The Huskies came right back in the bottom of the inning, as Dan Trubia tripled
to right-center to open the inning and, with one out, scored on a safety-squeeze
single by Tony Mallozzi to cut the lead to 4-2. A walk and an infield error
loaded the bases with one out, ending Egbert’s afternoon. Senior lefty
Sean Atchison (Florham Park, NJ) entered the game and induced a shallow popup
to left for the second out and blew three fastballs past Leonard for an inning-ending
strikeout.
Rutgers continued its manufacturing ways in the top of the seventh, when Graig
Badger (Union, NJ) led off with a single, stole second, advanced to third on
an infield groundout and scored on a single to right-center by Jeff Frazier
(Toms River, NJ) to increase RU’s lead to 5-2. UConn added a meaningless
run in the seventh to finish off the scoring.
Egbert (7-3) won his seventh-straight game, working 5.1 innings. He allowed
four hits and two runs, walking one and striking out seven. He also retired
the first nine hitters of the game before allowing single runs in the fourth
and sixth innings. Atchison earned his second save, allowing one run in 1.2
innings. Bionde and Frazier had two hits apiece.
Rutgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first in the nightcap,
as Badger reached on a walk and scored on a triple down the right-field line
by Wolski. Frazier then plated Wolski with a double to right-center and, two
batters later, Frazier scored on a double down the right-field line from Cerulo.
UConn used a pair of two-out hits to score a run in the third, but Rutgers
added another in the top of the fourth to reestablish its three-run lead. Johnny
Defendis (Staten Island, NY) lined a one-out single to left, moved to third
on an errant pick-off throw to first and scored on an RBI groundout by Vasquez.
The Huskies then cut the lead to one, 4-3, with a pair of runs in the bottom
of the inning, capped by an RBI double from Russ D’Argento.
Rutgers continued the see-saw affair in the fifth, adding another run to take
a 5-3 lead. Wolski doubled to right-center with one out and Frazier followed
with a single to put runners at the corners. Esposito then drove a mile-high
fly ball to right, and Wolski slid home safely on a close play at the plate.
Rutgers tacked on another in the sixth when Defendis singled sharply to right
and scored on a double to left-center by Vasquez, giving Rutgers its third,
three-run lead of the game.
The game was quickly knotted at 6-6 in the sixth, when UConn scored three
runs on a crucial, two-out error. With the bases loaded after a pair of singles
and a walk, Peter Soteropoulos singled to right field. The ball then short-hopped
Frazier, who was charging on the play, and skipped under his glove all the
way to the fence, allowing three runs to score. RU reliever Bobby Acampora
(Ocean Twp., NJ) uncorked a wild pitch to give the Huskies a 7-6 lead and a
single to center by Mike Mocerino added another run.
Rutgers scored a once in the eighth when Esposito tripled to left-center,
to cut the lead to 8-7, but the Huskies added two more in the bottom of the
inning before Mike James closed it in the ninth for this 10th save of the season.
Parker (2-2) suffered the loss, working 5.2 innings and allowing seven runs.
Wolski was 3-for-4 with a single, double and triple, while Frazier and Defendis
added two apiece.
The two teams will finish this series with a single game tomorrow at 12:00
noon.
** 2003 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Rutgers at UConn
May 03, 2003 at Storrs, CT (JO Christian Field)
Rutgers 5 (25-14,14-3 BIG EAST) UConn 3 (14-3,7-13 BIG EAST)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 3 1 1 0 D'Argento cf............... 4 1 1 0
GROSE, Jeff lf............. 4 0 0 1 Mallozzi lf................ 2 0 1 1
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 3 0 2 1 Soteropoulos 1b............ 2 0 1 1
ESPOSITO, Vinny 3b......... 2 1 1 0 Burnham ss................. 3 0 0 0
WOLSKI, Matt dh............ 4 0 0 0 Maler rf................... 3 0 0 0
NORMANE, Steve 1b.......... 1 1 0 0 Leonard c.................. 3 0 0 0
CERULO, Nick cf............ 1 0 0 1 Mocerino 2b................ 3 1 1 0
VASQUEZ, Alberto c......... 2 1 0 0 Richetti dh................ 2 0 0 0
BIONDE, Mike ss............ 3 1 2 1 Tokarz ph................. 1 0 0 0
EGBERT, Jack p............. 0 0 0 0 Trubia 3b.................. 3 1 1 0
ATCHISON, Sean p.......... 0 0 0 0 Tucci p.................... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 23 5 6 4 Totals..................... 26 3 5 2
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Rutgers............. 001 003 1 - 5 6 1
UConn............... 000 101 1 - 3 5 0
-----------------------------------------
E - ESPOSITO. DP - Rutgers 1; UConn 1. LOB - Rutgers 6; UConn 4. 3B - Mocerino;
Trubia. HBP - ESPOSITO. SH - BADGER; Mallozzi. SF - CERULO. SB - BADGER(26);
NORMANE(3); VASQUEZ(4). CS - BIONDE.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGBERT, Jack W,7-3........ 5.1 4 2 2 1 7 0 0 0 0 20 22 4 4
ATCHISON, Sean S,2........ 1.2 1 1 1 0 3 1 0 0 0 6 6 2 0
UConn IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tucci L,3-6............... 7.0 6 5 5 6 4 1 0 1 1 23 32 5 10
WP - ATCHISON; Tucci. HB - Tucci.
Strikeouts - BADGER; WOLSKI 2; NORMANE; Mallozzi; Soteropoulos; Maler; Leonard 2;
Mocerino; Richetti; Tokarz; Trubia 2. Walks - FRAZIER; ESPOSITO; NORMANE 2; CERULO;
VASQUEZ; Soteropoulos.
Umpires -
Start: 12:00 pm Time: 1:49 Attendance: 250
Game: UCONN-1
** 2003 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Rutgers at UConn
May 03, 2003 at Storrs, CT (JO Christian Field)
Rutgers 7 (25-15,14-4 BIG EAST) UConn 10 (22-21,8-13 BIG EAST)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 2 1 0 0 D'Argento cf............... 5 2 3 1
WOLSKI, Matt dh............ 4 2 3 1 Mallozzi lf................ 1 0 0 0
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 0 2 1 Balisciano ph............. 1 0 0 0
ESPOSITO, Vinny 3b......... 2 1 1 1 Dempsey rf................ 1 1 0 0
NORMANE, Steve 1b.......... 4 1 0 0 Soteropoulos 1b............ 4 1 2 3
CERULO, Nick cf............ 4 0 1 2 Burnham ss................. 3 2 1 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny lf........ 4 2 2 0 Mocerino 2b................ 5 1 2 1
VASQUEZ, Alberto c......... 4 0 1 2 Maler rf/lf................ 3 1 0 0
BIONDE, Mike ss............ 3 0 0 0 Trubia 3b.................. 3 1 2 2
RODRIGUEZ, Cory ph........ 1 0 0 0 Harris dh.................. 2 0 0 0
PARKER, Shaun p............ 0 0 0 0 Leonard ph................ 1 0 0 0
ACOMPORA, Bobby p......... 0 0 0 0 Richetti ph............... 2 0 0 0
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p....... 0 0 0 0 Stefkovich c............... 4 1 1 0
LILLIS, Chris p........... 0 0 0 0 Norton p................... 0 0 0 0
Barton p.................. 0 0 0 0
James p................... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 32 7 10 7 Totals..................... 35 10 11 7
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Rutgers............. 300 111 010 - 7 10 2
UConn............... 001 205 02X - 10 11 2
-------------------------------------------
E - BADGER; FRAZIER; Burnham; Norton. DP - UConn 4. LOB - Rutgers 4; UConn 10. 2B -
WOLSKI; FRAZIER; CERULO; VASQUEZ; D'Argento; Burnham. 3B - WOLSKI; ESPOSITO. HBP -
BADGER 2; Burnham; Maler. SH - Mallozzi. SF - ESPOSITO. SB - Burnham; Maler. CS -
BADGER.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PARKER, Shaun L,2-2....... 5.2 8 7 7 4 5 4 0 0 0 25 30 3 9
ACOMPORA, Bobby ........... 0.0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 0 0
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ ......... 1.2 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 6 7 4 0
LILLIS, Chris ............. 0.2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 3 4 0 1
UConn IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Norton .................... 5.1 9 6 5 2 2 0 0 1 0 22 26 4 8
Barton W,4-1.............. 1.2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 1 2
James S,10................ 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 6 7 1 2
WP - PARKER 4; ACOMPORA. HB - ACOMPORA; DECHRISTOFNO; Norton; James.
Strikeouts - NORMANE; CERULO; VASQUEZ; BIONDE; Mallozzi; Soteropoulos; Mocerino 2;
Harris; Leonard; Richetti. Walks - BADGER; WOLSKI; ESPOSITO; Dempsey; Soteropoulos;
Burnham; Maler; Trubia 2.
Umpires -
Start: 2:22 pm Time: 2:55 Attendance: 250
Game: UCONN-2
ACOMPORA faced 3 batters in the 6th.
Barton faced 1 batter in the 8th.
