PISCATAWAY, NJ – Five Rutgers University pitchers limited
Monmouth to just four hits as the Scarlet Knights defeated the Hawks, 4-0,
this afternoon at the Class of ’53 Baseball Complex. RU (23-15) scored
twice in the first inning – the only runs it needed – and cruised
the rest of the way for its second win of the season over Monmouth (19-23-1).
The shutout was Rutgers’ sixth of the season.
Sophomore Jimmy Jansen (Hillsdale, NJ) started for Rutgers and fired two shutout
innings to earn the win, extending his streak of shutout frames vs. Monmouth
to 11 this season. After escaping a first-and-third, one out jam in the top
of the first, Rutgers scored twice with two outs in the bottom on a single
from Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ) and a steal of home by Rich Canuso (Monroe,
NJ), who also reached on a single.
OJ DeChristofano (Pompton Plains, NJ) followed Jansen with three shutout innings,
allowing one hit while striking out three, before Erik Dial (Basking Ridge,
NJ) added two more scoreless frames, escaping a bases-loaded, two-out jam in
the seventh. Matt Pustay (Hamilton, NJ) and Tom Malafronte (Somerville, NJ)
wrapped up the game with a scoreless inning each. RU coach Fred Hill used all
five pitchers sparingly today so they will be available for a big weekend series
at Virginia Tech beginning on Saturday.
Rutgers padded its lead with a run in the fourth when Johnny Defendis (Staten
Island, NY) ripped a leadoff double and later scored on a single by Tim Querns
(Cherry Hill, NJ) and again in the seventh, when Jeff Frazier (Toms River,
NJ) crossed on Gaynor’s sacrifice fly.
RU mustered 11 hits, led by Gaynor, who was 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Canuso,
who was 3-for-4 with a double. Jason Grover (Montgomery, NJ) also chipped in
with two hits.
Rutgers returns to action on Saturday, when it faces Virginia Tech in a BIG
EAST doubleheader beginning at 4:00 p.m. RU will send juniors Jack Egbert (Rutherford,
NJ) and Aaron Kalb (Middletown, NJ) to the mound in games one and two, respectively.
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Monmouth at Rutgers
Apr 29, 2004 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of 53 Complex)
Monmouth 0 (19-23-1) Rutgers 4 (23-15)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Lewis, Jon lf.............. 4 0 1 0 BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 0 1 0
Pilitowski, Frank cf....... 3 0 0 0 GROSE, Jeff lf............. 3 0 1 0
Massari, Nick 2b........... 3 0 0 0 FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 3 2 0 0
Braun, Justin 1b........... 4 0 1 0 CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 4 1 3 0
Kelly, Mike ss............. 4 0 0 0 GAYNOR, Colin c............ 3 0 2 2
Corvino, Leo dh............ 3 0 0 0 DEFENDIS, Johnny cf........ 4 1 1 0
Ogorzat, Rob rf............ 3 0 2 0 WILLIAMS, David dh......... 3 0 0 0
DeFilippo, CJ c............ 3 0 0 0 QUERNS, Tim 3b............. 3 0 1 1
Marsh, Brian 3b............ 3 0 0 0 RODRIGUEZ, Cory ph/3b..... 1 0 0 0
Petillo, Greg p............ 0 0 0 0 GROVER, Jason ss........... 4 0 2 0
Schneider, Kevin p........ 0 0 0 0 JANSEN, Jim p.............. 0 0 0 0
Marc-Aurele, Matt p....... 0 0 0 0 DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p....... 0 0 0 0
DIAL, Erik p.............. 0 0 0 0
PUSTAY, Matt p............ 0 0 0 0
MALAFRONTE, Tom p......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 30 0 4 0 Totals..................... 32 4 11 3
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Monmouth............ 000 000 000 - 0 4 1
Rutgers............. 200 100 10X - 4 11 2
-------------------------------------------
E - Kelly; Querns; Jansen. DP - MONMOUTH 1; Rutgers 2. LOB - MONMOUTH 8; Rutgers 8.
2B - Canuso; Defendis; Grover. HBP - DeFilippo. SH - Williams. SF - Gaynor. SB -
Lewis; Grose; Canuso. CS - Massari.
Monmouth IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Petillo, Greg L,0-1....... 6.0 10 3 1 1 4 0 0 0 0 26 28 9 3
Schneider, Kevin .......... 1.0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 5 2 1
Marc-Aurele, Matt ......... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 1
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
JANSEN, Jim W,4-0......... 2.0 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 7 8 0 3
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ ......... 3.0 1 0 0 1 3 2 0 0 0 10 11 4 2
DIAL, Erik ................ 2.0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 6 9 4 1
PUSTAY, Matt .............. 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 2 0
MALAFRONTE, Tom ........... 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 3
WP - DeChristofno 2. HBP - by Dial (DeFilippo).
Strikeouts - Lewis 2; Pilitowski 2; Braun; Kelly; Grose; Defendis 2; Williams;
Grover. Walks - Pilitowski; Massari; Corvino; Ogorzat; Grose; Frazier.
Umpires -
Start: 3:30 pm Time: 2:12 Attendance: 250
