SOUTH ORANGE, NJ – Backed by the standout pitching
of junior Jack Egbert (Rutherford, NJ), the Rutgers baseball team recorded
a 4-1 victory to open BIG EAST play before falling, 5-4, in the second game
of a doubleheader at Seton Hall this afternoon in South Orange. Rutgers moves
to 7-12 overall, while Seton Hall is now 5-14-1.
In the opener, Egbert allowed just three hits and one run in seven strong
innings to run his career BIG EAST record to 8-1. The Scarlet Knights took
a 1-0 lead in the first when Graig Badger (Union, NJ) led off the game with
a single, stole second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a two-out
single by Rich Canuso (Monroe, NJ). In the third, RU increased its lead to
2-0 when Jeff Frazier (Toms River, NJ) led off with a walk and scored on an
infield groundout by Johnny Defendis (Staten Island, NY).
Leading 2-1, Rutgers tacked on a run in the fourth when Tim Querns (Cherry
Hill, NJ) led off with a single through the right side and scored on a single
from Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ). Another insurance run came across in the sixth
when Badger (one-out walk) scored on a sacrifice fly by Frazier. The walk by
Badger was the 117th of his career, tying Scott Trochim for the school record.
Egbert (3-1, 1-0 BE) allowed three hits, all singles, in seven innings, walking
two and striking out six. Querns was the lone repeat hitter for Rutgers, collecting
a pair of singles in three at bats.
In the nightcap, Rutgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a
two-run double by Defendis, who drove home Grose (walk) and Canuso (walk) with
two outs. After holding the Pirates scoreless through the first four innings,
RU starter Shaun Parker (Mt. Holly, NJ) faltered in the fifth, allowing the
first four Pirate hitters to reach base on a pair of walks and a pair of singles.
Parker left with the game tied 2-2, but two more runs crossed in the inning
on back-to-back infield errors and an RBI groundout.
Rutgers cut the lead to 4-3 in the sixth when Grose reached on a throwing
error, stole second and scored on another Defendis double and tied the game,
4-4, on a two-out, RBI single in the seventh from Grose.
Seton Hall delivered the final blow, however, when Matt Cuttruff delivered
Santiago Chi (walk) with a two-out single to center. SHU’s Chris Noonan
pitched the final 2.1 innings to earn the win, allowing just one hit and no
runs.
Parker allowed four hits and four runs in 4-plus innings, walking four and
striking out five. Junior Erik Dial (Basking Ridge, NJ) pitched well in relief
but suffered the loss, allowing just two hits and one run in 3.1 innings of
work. Rutgers posted just six hits, including two doubles from Defendis and
a pair of singles from freshman catcher Jeff Miller (Wyckoff, NJ).
The two teams will conclude the series with a single game on Sunday at noon.
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
RUTGERS at Seton Hall
Mar 27, 2004 at South Orange, NJ (Owen T. Carroll Fld.)
RUTGERS 4 (7-11,1-3) Seton Hall 1 (4-14-1,1-0)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 2 2 1 0 SERATELLI 2b............... 1 1 1 0
GROSE, Jeff dh............. 3 0 1 1 PAHUTA 1b.................. 3 0 0 0
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 2 1 1 0 SCOTT 3b................... 2 0 0 1
CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 3 0 1 1 FULDA c.................... 3 0 1 0
GAYNOR, Colin c............ 3 0 1 0 CUTTRUFF rf................ 3 0 0 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny lf........ 4 0 0 1 YOUNG dh................... 2 0 0 0
CERULO, Nick cf............ 4 0 0 0 SCHWITZKY ph.............. 1 0 0 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b............. 3 1 2 0 SULLIVAN cf................ 3 0 1 0
GROVER, Jason ss........... 3 0 0 0 COHEN lf................... 2 0 0 0
EGBERT, Jack p............. 0 0 0 0 CHI ss..................... 3 0 0 0
SABO p..................... 0 0 0 0
NOONAN p.................. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 27 4 7 3 Totals..................... 23 1 3 1
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
RUTGERS............. 101 101 0 - 4 7 0
Seton Hall.......... 001 000 0 - 1 3 2
-----------------------------------------
E - CHI; SABO. DP - RUTGERS 1. LOB - RUTGERS 9; Seton Hall 5. 2B - Frazier. HBP -
SERATELLI; SCOTT. SH - Gaynor. SF - Frazier. SB - Badger 2; Cerulo; SERATELLI 2.
RUTGERS IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGBERT, Jack W,3-1........ 7.0 3 1 1 2 6 0 0 2 0 23 27 6 8
Seton Hall IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SABO L,0-2................ 5.1 7 4 4 5 5 1 1 0 0 23 29 5 6
NOONAN .................... 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 5 1 3
WP - SABO. HBP - by Egbert (SERATELLI); by Egbert (SCOTT). BK - SABO. PB - FULDA 2.
Strikeouts - Badger; Frazier; Gaynor; Cerulo 2; Querns; PAHUTA; FULDA; CUTTRUFF;
SCHWITZKY; CHI 2. Walks - Badger 2; Grose; Frazier; Canuso; SERATELLI; COHEN.
Umpires - HP: Tim Lombardo 1B: John Ramsey 3B: Carlos Gumzen
Start: 12:00 Time: 2:05 Attendance: 198
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
RUTGERS at Seton Hall
Mar 27, 2004 at South Orange, NJ (Owen T. Carroll Fld.)
RUTGERS 4 (7-12,1-1) Seton Hall 5 (5-14-1,2-3)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 0 0 0 SERATELLI 2b............... 4 1 3 1
GROSE, Jeff lf............. 4 2 1 1 CUTTRUFF rf................ 5 1 3 1
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 0 0 0 SCOTT cf................... 2 1 0 0
CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 3 1 0 0 PAHUTA 1b.................. 1 0 0 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny dh........ 4 0 2 3 SCHWITZKY 1b.............. 2 0 0 0
MILLER, Jeff c............. 3 0 2 0 FULDA dh................... 4 0 1 0
CERULO, Nick cf............ 3 0 1 0 DOYLE pr.................. 0 0 0 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b............. 4 1 0 0 SULLIVAN lf................ 3 0 0 1
GROVER, Jason ss........... 4 0 0 0 YOUNG 3b................... 4 0 0 0
PARKER, Shaun p............ 0 0 0 0 CHI ss..................... 2 1 0 0
DIAL, Erik p.............. 0 0 0 0 HALM c..................... 2 1 0 0
MALAFRONTE, Tom p......... 0 0 0 0 HAGGERTY, J p.............. 0 0 0 0
NOONAN p.................. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 33 4 6 4 Totals..................... 29 5 7 3
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
RUTGERS............. 200 001 100 - 4 6 2
Seton Hall.......... 000 040 01X - 5 7 4
-------------------------------------------
E - Badger; Querns; SERATELLI; YOUNG; HALM; HAGGERTY, J. LOB - RUTGERS 7; Seton Hall
9. 2B - Defendis 2; SERATELLI; CUTTRUFF; FULDA. HBP - Badger; SERATELLI; SULLIVAN.
SH - Cerulo; SCHWITZKY; HALM. SB - Grose; Cerulo; SCOTT; SULLIVAN 2.
RUTGERS IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PARKER, Shaun ............. 4.0 4 4 4 4 5 0 1 1 0 16 21 2 5
DIAL, Erik L,0-4.......... 3.1 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 12 14 3 5
MALAFRONTE, Tom ........... 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 1
Seton Hall IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HAGGERTY, J ............... 6.2 4 4 3 3 5 0 0 1 0 23 28 6 8
NOONAN W,2-2.............. 2.1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 10 10 1 5
HBP - by Parker (SULLIVAN); by HAGGERTY, J (Badger); by Malafronte (SERATELLI). BK -
Parker. PB - Miller.
Strikeouts - Badger 2; Grose; Frazier; Defendis; Querns; SCOTT; PAHUTA; SCHWITZKY;
SULLIVAN; YOUNG; CHI. Walks - Grose; Canuso; Miller; SCOTT 2; CHI 2; HALM.
