CORAL GABLES, FL – Paco Figuero singled off the leg
of reliever Steve Holt (Toms River, NJ) to drive in Brian Barton with the go-ahead
run in the bottom of the 10th as sixth-ranked Miami (15-3) defeated Rutgers,
6-5, in 10 innings today, completing a three-game series sweep of the Scarlet
Knights (4-8). Rutgers fought back from a 5-1 deficit to tie the game in the
eighth, highlighted by a two-run home run from Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ).
Rutgers entered the weekend with five victories in its last seven meetings
with the University of Miami but dropped all three for the first time since
1998.
In the bottom of the 10th, with the game tied at 5-5, OJ DeChristofano (Pompton
Plains, NJ) allowed a one-out single to Brian Barton and threw just one more
pitch before leaving the game with shoulder soreness. Holt entered the game
and allowed back-to-back singles to Erick San Pedro and Figueroa, which produced
the decisive run.
Graig Badger (Union, NJ) led off with a solo home run on the third pitch of
the game from UM starter Brandon Camardese, giving RU a 1-0 lead. The Hurricanes
tied the game with a single run in the second on a two-out single from Barton
and took a 2-1 lead in the third on a catcher’s interference call.
In the bottom of the fourth, UM tacked on two more runs when Barton doubled
to open the inning and scored on a one-out triple by Figueroa, who scored on
a sacrifice fly from John Jay to extend the lead to 4-1.
Trailing 5-1, Rutgers rallied to tie the game with two outs in the top of
the eighth. With Badger on first and two outs, Jeff Frazier (Toms River, NJ)
lofted a deep fly ball to right, which Barton mishandled, allowing Badger to
score and Frazier to reach second base. Rich Canuso (Monroe, NJ) then singled
to center, driving in Frazier to close the gap to 5-3 and ending Camardese’s
afternoon. Gaynor welcomed UM reliever Alex Blanco with a two-run home run
to left field, knotting the game at 5-5.
DeChristofano (0-1) suffered the loss, despite pitching well until his injury.
He allowed just one hit and one run in 2.1 innings of relief work, battling
out of a jam in the eighth and then firing shutout frames in the eighth and
ninth. Freshman Steve Healing (Brick, NJ) was stellar again in long relief,
allowing just one run on two hits in 3.1 innings of work, the only blemish
being Figueroa’s home run. Offensively, Rutgers collected eight hits – two
from Badger.
“Our guys competed much better today,” said head coach Fred Hill. “We
got some outstanding relief pitching from Steve (Healing) and OJ (DeChristofano)
and our hitters never gave up. After two tough losses, it was nice to see.”
The Scarlet Knights remain in southern Florida for the week and return to
action on Tuesday, when they head downtown to face Florida International at
7:00 p.m.
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Rutgers at #6 Miami
Mar 14, 2004 at Coral Gables, FL (Mark Light Stadium)
Rutgers 5 (4-8) Miami 6 (15-3)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 2 2 1 P. Figueroa cf............. 5 3 4 3
DEFENDIS, Johnny lf........ 2 0 0 0 J. Jay lf.................. 3 0 0 1
GROSE, Jeff lf............ 1 0 1 0 R. Braun ss................ 4 0 1 0
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 1 0 0 J. Burt 1b................. 3 0 0 0
CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 5 1 1 1 B. Katin dh................ 5 0 0 0
GAYNOR, Colin dh........... 4 1 1 2 G. Sanchez 3b.............. 3 1 1 0
MILLER, Jeff c............. 4 0 1 0 A. Ricks 2b................ 5 0 1 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b............. 3 0 0 0 B. Barton rf............... 5 2 3 1
CERULO, Nick cf............ 4 0 1 0 E. Rodriguez c............. 3 0 0 0
GROVER, Jason ss........... 4 0 1 0 J. Hooft ph............... 0 0 0 0
DIAL, Erik p............... 0 0 0 0 E. San Pedro c............ 1 0 1 0
HEALING, Steve p.......... 0 0 0 0 B. Camardese p............. 0 0 0 0
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p....... 0 0 0 0 A. Blanco p............... 0 0 0 0
HOLT, Steve p............. 0 0 0 0 G. Huguet p............... 0 0 0 0
S. Valdes-Fauli p......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 35 5 8 4 Totals..................... 37 6 11 5
Score by Innings R H E
---------------------------------------------
Rutgers............. 100 000 040 0 - 5 8 1
Miami............... 011 201 000 1 - 6 11 1
---------------------------------------------
Note: 1 out, 2 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - Miller; B. Barton. DP - Miami 2. LOB - Rutgers 5; Miami 12. 2B - B. Barton. 3B -
P. Figueroa. HR - Badger(2); Gaynor(1); P. Figueroa. HBP - Defendis 2; Frazier;
Querns; R. Braun. SH - Badger; P. Figueroa. SF - J. Jay. SB - R. Braun 2. CS -
Grose. Reached on CI - G. Sanchez.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIAL, Erik ................ 3.2 6 4 3 3 2 1 0 1 0 16 22 2 7
HEALING, Steve ............ 3.1 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 12 13 6 3
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ L,0-1... 2.1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 9 2 5
HOLT, Steve ............... 0.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0
Miami IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Camardese .............. 7.2 5 4 1 0 5 0 0 4 0 26 31 2 14
A. Blanco ................. 0.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 0
G. Huguet ................. 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 3 0
S. Valdes-Fauli W,3-0..... 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 1
WP - Dial. HBP - by B. Camardese (Frazier); by B. Camardese (Defendis); by Dial (R.
Braun); by B. Camardese (Defendis); by B. Camardese (Querns). CI - Miller.
Strikeouts - Canuso 3; Gaynor; Querns 2; Cerulo; P. Figueroa; B. Katin; E.
Rodriguez. Walks - J. Jay; J. Burt 2; G. Sanchez; J. Hooft.
Umpires -
Start: 12:00 pm Time: 3:03 Attendance: 1549
Game notes:
ID-237570
A. Blanco faced 2 batters in the 8th.
Game: MIAMI-3
