JAMAICA, NY - The Rutgers baseball team endured a sluggish
afternoon in Jamaica, NY, dropping both ends of a BIG EAST doubleheader to
St. John's (10-4; 4-1). Rutgers took a 4-0 lead in the opener and a 1-0 lead
in the nightcap, but failed to score again in either game as it lost its first
BIG EAST doubleheader since dropping a pair at Notre Dame on May 4, 2002. With
the losses, RU snapped its 14-game winning streak and is now 21-15 overall
and 11-4 in BIG EAST play.
Rutgers took a 4-0 lead in the first, scoring all four runs with two outs.
Jeff Frazier (Toms River, NJ) reached on an error to start things off and scored
on a double to left-center from Rich Canuso (Monroe, NJ), who promptly scored
when Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ) doubled down the left-field line on the
very next pitch. With Gaynor on second, Johnny Defendis (Staten Island, NY)
jumped on the first pitch he saw, tripling into right field and scoring on
an overthrow.
Rutgers starter Jack Egbert (Rutherford, NJ) gutted his way through the first
three innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth, allowing three runs the
big blow being Blake Hershelman's two-run double before leaving with runners
on second and third and one out. RU reliever Matt Pustay (Hamilton, NJ) yielded
the tying run on a wild pitch, while Jim Martin's shallow popup fell in front
of Nick Cerulo (Woodbridge, NJ) in left-center, driving in the go-ahead run.
A throwing error on the play and a sacrifice fly extended St. John's lead to
6-4 after four innings. The Red Storm added four more in the fifth on another
two-run double from Hershelman and Ken Devenney's two-run homer.
Egbert (6-2) worked just 3.1 innings, allowing eight hits and five runs, while
Pustay and Malafronte each allowed two runs. Canuso was the lone repeat hitter
for Rutgers, going 2-for-3 with a double and RBI.
Rutgers took a 1-0 second-inning lead in the nightcap when Jason Grover (Montgomery,
NJ) doubled home Cerulo, who reached on an infield single. St. John's tied
the game in the bottom half on an Anthony DeRosa RBI single, took a 2-1 lead
in the third on Eric Schultz' sacrifice fly and went ahead, 3-1, on PJ Antoniato's
solo shot in the fifth.
Aaron Kalb (Middletown, NJ) was the tough-luck loser in the nightcap, allowing
seven hits and three earned runs in 7.1 innings. He walked two and struck out
four, dropping to 5-1 this season. Frazier was 2-for-3 with a double, while
five others had one hit apiece.
Rutgers returns to action on Tuesday, when it begins a stretch of six games
in six days with a non-conference contest at Columbia at 3:30 p.m.
