NEW YORK, NY – Rutgers’ second trip to New York
in the last three days was more fruitful than the last, as it scored eight
times in the first inning and five times in the second en route to a 15-9 win
over Columbia this afternoon in non-league action. Sophomore OF Johnny Defendis
(Staten Island, NY) was 4-for-5 with three RBI and led the Scarlet Knights’ 24-hit
attack. With the win, Rutgers improves to 22-15 overall. RU also avenged an
11-1 home loss to Columbia last season.
Graig Badger (Union, NJ) opened the game with a single to short and, following
a walk to Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ), junior Jeff Frazier (Toms River, NJ) pounded
a double into right-center, scoring both runners for a 2-0 lead. Rich Canuso
(Monroe, NJ) then homered to right-center, his sixth of the season, to run
the score to 4-0 and Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ) doubled, which preceded
an infield error and back-to-back singles by Jeff Miller (Wyckoff, NJ) and
Tim Querns (Cherry Hill, NJ), adding two more runs. Another single for Badger
set the stage for Grose, who drove in the final two runs of the inning with
a single up the middle before Frazier’s 5-4-3 double play ended the inning.
In the second, Defendis stroked a two-run double down the rightfield line
and Miller followed with a two-run home run, his first collegiate blast, to
increase the lead to 12-0. Jason Grover (Montgomery, NJ) then homered two batters
later to finish the scoring.
Rutgers added a single run in the third on Defendis’ third hit and another
in the sixth on another Grose single, scoring Grover, who reached on a one-out
double.
RU starter Steve Healing (Brick, NJ) allowed one run on two hits in 3.0 innings
of work, earning the win (4-1). Freshman Chris Rini (Flemington, NJ) was the
first of five relief pitchers for RU, allowing one run on two hits in 3.0 innings
as well. In addition to Defendis’ four hits, Badger, Grose, Gaynor and
Grover all checked in with three apiece, while Nick Cerulo (Woodbridge, NJ)
was 2-for-2 in a reserve role.
Rutgers’ game with Lafayette, scheduled for Wednesday, has been rescheduled
to Tuesday, May 4. RU will be back in action on Thursday, when it hosts Monmouth
at 3:30 p.m.
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Rutgers University at Columbia
Apr 27, 2004 at New York, N.Y. (Andy Coakley Field)
Rutgers University 15 (22-15) Columbia 9 (12-24)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 1 3 0 Livermore 2b............... 5 1 2 2
RODRIGUEZ, Cory 2b........ 2 0 0 0 Gold lf.................... 2 0 0 0
GROSE, Jeff lf............. 5 1 3 3 Ward lf................... 2 1 1 2
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 5 2 2 2 Perez dh................... 3 0 0 0
WILLIAMS, David rf........ 1 0 0 0 DeFazio dh................ 1 1 0 0
CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 3 2 1 2 Schmidt 1b................. 3 0 0 0
HOOK, Steve 1b............ 2 0 0 0 Miklausich 3b............. 2 0 1 1
GAYNOR, Colin dh........... 4 2 3 0 Compton 3b/1b.............. 4 2 2 2
CERULO, Nick ph/dh........ 2 0 2 0 Waters cf.................. 4 1 2 2
DEFENDIS, Johnny cf........ 5 2 4 3 Hooker rf.................. 5 0 0 0
MILLER, Jeff c............. 5 2 2 3 Ramos c.................... 2 0 0 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b............. 6 1 1 1 Rettke c.................. 2 1 2 0
GROVER, Jason ss........... 5 2 3 1 Rodwogin ss................ 5 2 3 0
HEALING, Steve p........... 0 0 0 0 Flinn p.................... 0 0 0 0
RINI, Chris p............. 0 0 0 0 Quinn p................... 0 0 0 0
ACAMPORA, Bobby p......... 0 0 0 0 Bajger p.................. 0 0 0 0
PUSTAY, Matt p............ 0 0 0 0 Walther p................. 0 0 0 0
HOLT, Steve p............. 0 0 0 0 Barna p................... 0 0 0 0
MALAFRONTE, Tom p......... 0 0 0 0 DeGasperis p.............. 0 0 0 0
Oleksak p................. 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 49 15 24 15 Totals..................... 40 9 13 9
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Rutgers University. 851 001 000 - 15 24 1
Columbia............ 001 100 403 - 9 13 2
-------------------------------------------
E - Healing; Ramos; Flinn. DP - Lions 4. LOB - S. Knights 11; Lions 9. 2B - Frazier;
Gaynor 2; Defendis 2; Grover; Livermore; Miklausich; Compton; Rodwogin 2. HR -
Canuso; Miller; Grover; Compton; Waters. HBP - Canuso; Defendis; Gold; Rettke. SF -
Waters.
Rutgers University IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
HEALING, Steve W.......... 3.0 2 1 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 12 13 4 3
RINI, Chris ............... 3.0 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 10 11 6 2
ACAMPORA, Bobby ........... 0.2 5 4 4 1 0 0 0 1 0 7 9 0 2
PUSTAY, Matt .............. 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 2 1
HOLT, Steve ............... 0.2 3 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 5 6 0 1
MALAFRONTE, Tom ........... 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0
Columbia IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flinn L................... 0.0 6 8 5 1 0 0 1 0 0 7 8 0 0
Quinn ..................... 1.1 6 5 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 10 10 1 2
Bajger .................... 3.2 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 14 16 1 8
Walther ................... 1.0 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 0 2
Barna ..................... 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 1 2
DeGasperis ................ 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 4 4 1 1
Oleksak ................... 1.0 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 5 0 1
WP - Rini; DeGasperis. HBP - by Healing (Gold); by Bajger (Canuso); by Bajger
(Defendis); by Acampora (Rettke). BK - Flinn.
Strikeouts - Rodriguez 2; Canuso; Hook; Gold; Schmidt 2; Miklausich; Hooker. Walks -
Grose; Miller; DeFazio; Compton.
Umpires -
Start: 3:30 pm Time: 3:02 Attendance: 35
Flinn faced 8 batters in the 1st.
