PISCATAWAY, NJ – The two constants during Rutgers’ 12-game
winning streak – timely hitting and outstanding pitching – were
present once again today as the Scarlet Knights swept a BIG EAST doubleheader
from Connecticut this afternoon at the Class of ’53 Baseball Complex.
In the opener, Jack Egbert (Rutherford, NJ) was dominant once again in a 5-1
win, while the bullpen combination of Erik Dial (Basking Ridge, NJ) and Tom
Malafronte (Somerville, NJ) held off the Huskies in the nightcap. With the
sweep, RU is now 19-13 overall and 10-2 in league play, retaining its top spot
in the league standings.
In the opener, Rutgers strung together four straight two-out hits to plate
three runs in the bottom of the second. Johnny Defendis (Staten Island, NY)
was hit by a pitch to open the inning and with two outs, Jason Grover (Montgomery,
NJ) drove him home with a single to center. Graig Badger (Union, NJ) then doubled
to right-center, putting runners on second and third for Jeff Grose (Iselin,
NJ), who banged a single through the middle to score both runners. A single
by Jeff Frazier (Toms River, NJ) kept the inning alive before UConn induced
the final out.
With Egbert on the mound, those runs were all the Scarlet Knights needed,
but they added two more in the sixth on a single to left from Nick Cerulo (Woodbridge,
NJ), scoring Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ) and Defendis, who were both hit
by a pitch to open the inning.
Egbert cruised through the first two innings, but loaded the bases with one
out in the third on three-straight singles. He kept the shutout intact with
an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play and took his shutout into the sixth, when
Connecticut broke through with a run on Mike Leonard’s RBI single. The
run snapped a 14-inning scoreless streak for Egbert. Egbert (6-1) allowed eight
hits and one run, did not walk a hitter and struck out five.
In the second game, Rutgers jumped on UConn starter Mike James with three
runs in the first when Grose, Frazier and Rich Canuso (Monroe, NJ) hit three-straight
singles to produce the first run. Gaynor followed with an RBI groundout, scoring
Frazier and Canuso raced home on Defendis’ single to right. Connecticut
tied the game, however, with single runs in the second, fifth and sixth innings,
chasing RU starter Shaun Parker (Mt. Holly, NJ) from the game.
After seeing Connecticut tie the game in the top of the sixth, Rutgers reclaimed
the lead in the bottom half. Cerulo was hit by a pitch to open the inning and
stole second with one out. Badger’s infield single put runners at the
corners for Grose, who delivered yet again, drilling a line drive single into
left to score Cerulo for a 4-3 lead. RU added an insurance run in the eighth
when Cerulo, who reached on a one-out single, raced all the way from second
to home on Grover’s groundout.
Dial (1-4) allowed three hits in 3.0 shutout innings of relief to earn his
first college win, while Malafronte picked up his fourth save with a 1-2-3
ninth, extending his scoreless streak to seven appearances and 9.2 innings.
Parker (5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K) pitched well but picked up a no-decision.
Grose, Canuso and Defendis led the 11-hit attack with two apiece.
The two teams conclude the series tomorrow with Connecticut’s Brandon
McGinn and Rutgers’ Aaron Kalb (Middletown, NJ) slated to start.
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Connecticut at Rutgers
Apr 17, 2004 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of 53 Complex)
Connecticut 1 (17-15,5-6) Rutgers 5 (18-13,9-2)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Kyle Messineo lf........... 3 0 2 0 BADGER, Graig 2b........... 3 1 1 0
Tony Mallozzi rf........... 3 1 1 0 GROSE, Jeff lf............. 4 0 1 2
Russ D'Argento cf.......... 3 0 0 0 FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 2 0 1 0
Mike Leonard dh............ 3 0 1 1 CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 3 0 1 0
Marc Peluso 3b............. 3 0 0 0 GAYNOR, Colin c............ 2 1 0 0
Mike McDonough 1b.......... 3 0 1 0 DEFENDIS, Johnny dh........ 1 2 0 0
Brian Maloney 2b........... 2 0 0 0 RODRIGUEZ, Cory 3b......... 3 0 0 0
Tim Dempsey ph............ 1 0 0 0 CERULO, Nick cf............ 3 0 1 2
Larry Day c................ 3 0 2 0 GROVER, Jason ss........... 2 1 1 1
Dennis Donovan ss.......... 3 0 1 0 EGBERT, Jack p............. 0 0 0 0
Jeff Hourigan p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 27 1 8 1 Totals..................... 23 5 6 5
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Connecticut......... 000 001 0 - 1 8 1
Rutgers............. 030 002 X - 5 6 0
-----------------------------------------
E - Maloney(1). DP - Rutgers 2. LOB - UCONN 5; Rutgers 6. 2B - Badger(7). HBP -
Gaynor; Defendis 2. SH - Grover(5).
Connecticut IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Hourigan L,4-3....... 6.0 6 5 5 2 0 0 0 3 1 23 29 6 11
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGBERT, Jack W,6-1........ 7.0 8 1 1 0 5 0 0 0 0 27 27 6 8
HBP - by Hourigan (Defendis); by Hourigan (Gaynor); by Hourigan (Defendis).
Strikeouts - Messineo; Leonard; McDonough; Dempsey; Donovan. Walks - Badger;
Frazier.
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Connecticut at Rutgers
Apr 17, 2004 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of '53 Complex)
Connecticut 3 (19-13,5-7 BE) Rutgers 5 (17-16,10-2 BE)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Kyle Messineo lf........... 3 0 0 0 BADGER, Graig 2b........... 5 0 2 0
Tony Mallozzi rf........... 4 0 0 0 GROSE, Jeff dh............. 5 1 2 1
Bryan Maler ph............ 1 0 0 0 FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 3 1 1 0
Russ D'Argento cf.......... 4 1 0 0 CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 4 1 2 1
Mike Leonard c............. 4 0 2 1 GAYNOR, Colin c............ 4 0 1 1
Jeff Hourigan dh........... 4 0 0 0 DEFENDIS, Johnny lf........ 4 0 2 1
Marc Peluso 3b............. 4 1 1 0 RODRIGUEZ, Cory 3b......... 4 0 0 0
Mike McDonough 1b.......... 2 1 1 0 CERULO, Nick cf............ 2 2 1 0
Brian Maloney 2b........... 2 0 0 0 GROVER, Jason ss........... 2 0 0 1
Matt Untiet ph............ 1 0 1 0 PARKER, Shaun p............ 0 0 0 0
Patrick Feeney pr/2b...... 0 0 0 0 DIAL, Erik p.............. 0 0 0 0
Dennis Donovan ss.......... 4 0 1 1 MALAFRONTE, Tom p......... 0 0 0 0
Mike James p............... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 33 3 6 2 Totals..................... 33 5 11 5
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Connecticut......... 010 011 000 - 3 6 0
Rutgers............. 300 001 01X - 5 11 3
-------------------------------------------
E - Defendis; Rodriguez; Grover. DP - UCONN 1. LOB - UCONN 9; Rutgers 9. HBP -
Cerulo. SH - Grover. SB - Messineo 2; D'Argento; Badger; Cerulo 2.
Connecticut IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike James L,4-3.......... 8.0 11 5 5 3 2 0 0 1 0 33 38 10 10
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PARKER, Shaun ............. 5.0 3 3 2 5 5 0 0 0 0 20 25 3 7
DIAL, Erik W,1-4.......... 3.0 3 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 10 11 3 3
MALAFRONTE, Tom S,4....... 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 2
HBP - by James (Cerulo).
Strikeouts - Mallozzi 3; D'Argento; Hourigan; Peluso; Badger; Grover. Walks -
Messineo 2; D'Argento; McDonough 2; Maloney; Frazier; Cerulo; Grover.
Umpires -
Start: 2:00 Time: 2:31 Attendance: 250
