PISCATAWAY, NJ – Before tiring in the ninth, senior
lefty Shaun Parker (Mt. Holly, NJ) allowed just two hits and one run through
eight innings to lead Rutgers to an 8-4, game two victory over West Virginia
today, completing a doubleheader sweep of the Mountaineers at the Class of ’53
Baseball Complex in Piscataway. Shortstop Jason Grover (Montgomery, NJ) was
a combined 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBI, reaching base in five of seven
plate appearances. Rutgers also won the first game, 6-4, to improve to 10-13
overall and 3-2 in league play, while WVU fell to 8-16 and remains in search
of its first BIG EAST win at 0-5.
Parker (2-2) was brilliant this afternoon, taking a no-hitter into the fifth
inning and allowing just two hits and one run through eight. He posted four
1-2-3 innings, including a three-pitch seventh inning. Heading into the ninth
with an 8-1 lead, he hit back-to-back pinch-hitters before allowing a three-run
HR to Grant Psomas, which signaled the end of his day.
Rutgers built a 3-0 lead in the second inning with an impressive two-out rally.
Jeff Miller (Wyckoff, NJ) was the catalyst, dumping a single into left-center
after a pair of quick outs. Back-to-back walks to Tim Querns (Cherry Hill,
NJ) and Nick Cerulo (Woodbridge, NJ) loaded the bases for Jason Grover (Montgomery,
NJ), who stung a single into center field, to plate two runs. A wild pitch
then allowed Cerulo to score the final run of the inning.
In the fourth, RU tacked on five more to finish off its scoring. Grover got
the ball rolling with a one-out single and single by Graig Badger (Union, NJ)
and a walk to Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ) loaded the bases for Jeff Frazier (Toms
River, NJ), who popped up for the inning’s second out. Rich Canuso (Monroe,
NJ) followed with a bases-loaded walk to force in the first run and Johnny
Defendis (Staten Island, NY) followed with a two-run single to increase the
lead to 6-0. An RBI single from Miller and an ensuing throwing error led to
two additional runs.
Canuso, Miller and Grover had two hits apiece, while Grover and Defendis knocked
in a pair of runs for RU, which totaled eight hits in the game.
In the opener, Rutgers squeezed out a 6-4 victory behind a gusty effort from
RU starter Jack Egbert (Rutherford, NJ) and strong relief from Tom Malafronte
(Somerville, NJ), who wiggled out of a first-and-third, no out jam in the seventh
to record his first career save, striking out the final two hitters of the
game.
Rutgers took a 2-0 lead in the second on Grose’s two-run single, plating
Grover (one-out triple) and Badger (HBP). WVU scored one in the fourth on Kurtis
Clinton’s double and then scored three more in the fifth to take a 4-2.
Rutgers fought back, however, scoring four its own in the bottom of the fifth,
highlighted by a two-run single from Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ). RU took
advantage of three-straight walks and a hit batter to set the stage for Gaynor
and then finished off the scoring on a well-executed double steal by Gaynor
and Canuso.
Egbert (3-1) allowed 10 hits, including a pair in the seventh that put the
tying run on base with no outs, and three earned runs in six-plus innings of
work. Malafronte earned the save by inducing a foul popup and a pair of strikeouts
to end the contest. Rutgers had just four hits, the highlights being Grover’s
triple and Gaynor’s two-run single.
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
West Virginia at Rutgers
Apr 03, 2004 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of 53 Complex)
West Virginia 4 (8-15,0-4 BE) Rutgers 6 (9-13,2-2 BE)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BOWLING, Casey rf.......... 4 0 2 0 BADGER, Graig 2b........... 1 1 0 0
SERFASS, Jake lf........... 3 1 1 0 GROSE, Jeff dh............. 3 1 1 2
FRITZ, Lee cf.............. 4 2 2 0 FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 2 1 1 1
POSLUSZNY, Stan dh......... 4 0 1 0 CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 3 1 0 0
PSOMAS, Grant ss........... 4 0 0 0 GAYNOR, Colin c............ 3 0 1 2
CLINTON, Kurtis 1b......... 3 0 1 1 DEFENDIS, Johnny lf........ 3 0 0 0
MATUSZEK, Kyle 2b.......... 3 0 2 0 RODRIGUEZ, Cory 3b......... 3 0 0 0
RICHARDS, Justin 3b........ 3 0 0 0 CERULO, Nick cf............ 3 0 0 0
D'AMICO, Travis c.......... 3 1 1 0 GROVER, Jason ss........... 1 2 1 0
CLINE, Zac p............... 0 0 0 0 EGBERT, Jack p............. 0 0 0 0
MALAFRONTE, Tom p......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 31 4 10 1 Totals..................... 22 6 4 5
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
West Virginia....... 000 130 0 - 4 10 1
Rutgers............. 002 040 X - 6 4 4
-----------------------------------------
E - Matuszek; Badger; Frazier 2; Grover. DP - Rutgers 1. LOB - WVU 7; Rutgers 5. 2B
- Clinton; D'Amico. 3B - Grover. HBP - Badger; Frazier. SB - Fritz; Matuszek;
Badger; Canuso; Gaynor. CS - Grose.
West Virginia IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CLINE, Zac L,2-2.......... 6.0 4 6 6 5 1 0 0 2 0 22 29 8 8
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGBERT, Jack W,4-1........ 6.0 10 4 3 1 3 0 0 0 0 28 29 4 10
MALAFRONTE, Tom S,1....... 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 0
HBP - by Cline (Badger); by Cline (Frazier).
Strikeouts - Posluszny; Psomas 2; Clinton; Richards; Defendis. Walks - Serfass;
Badger 2; Grose; Grover 2.
Umpires -
Start: 12:00 pm Time: 2:00 Attendance: 400
Game notes:
ID-256586
Egbert faced 2 batters in the 7th.
Game: WVU-1
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
West Virginia at Rutgers
Apr 03, 2004 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of 53 Complex)
West Virginia 4 (8-16,0-5 BE) Rutgers 8 (10-13,3-2 BE)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BOWLING, Casey rf/cf....... 3 0 1 0 BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 1 1 0
SERFASS, Jake lf........... 4 0 0 0 GROSE, Jeff dh............. 3 1 0 0
FRITZ, Lee cf.............. 3 0 0 0 HOOK, Steve dh............ 0 0 0 0
EDMEADS, Tim rf........... 0 1 0 0 FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 0 0 0
POSLUSZNY, Stan dh......... 3 0 0 0 WILLIAMS, David ph/rf..... 1 0 0 0
SOUSA, J.C. ph............ 0 1 0 0 CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 3 1 2 1
PSOMAS, Grant ss........... 3 1 1 3 DEFENDIS, Johnny lf........ 4 1 1 2
CLINTON, Kurtis 1b......... 4 0 0 0 MILLER, Jeff c............. 3 1 2 1
MATUSZEK, Kyle 2b.......... 4 1 1 1 QUERNS, Tim 3b............. 3 1 0 0
D'AMICO, Travis c.......... 1 0 0 0 CERULO, Nick cf............ 3 1 0 0
CARPENTER, David ph/c..... 2 0 0 0 GROVER, Jason ss........... 4 1 2 2
CHRISTOFORO, Michael 3b.... 2 0 0 0 PARKER, Shaun p............ 0 0 0 0
MILLER, Shawn p............ 0 0 0 0 DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p....... 0 0 0 0
ASBURY, Justin p.......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 29 4 3 4 Totals..................... 32 8 8 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
West Virginia....... 000 010 003 - 4 3 1
Rutgers............. 030 500 00X - 8 8 3
-------------------------------------------
E - Bowling; Querns; Parker 2. DP - Rutgers 2. LOB - WVU 4; Rutgers 7. 2B - Canuso.
HR - Psomas; Matuszek. HBP - Edmeads; Sousa; Hook. CS - Bowling.
West Virginia IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MILLER, Shawn L,3-4....... 4.0 7 8 7 6 3 1 0 0 0 19 25 5 4
ASBURY, Justin ............ 4.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 13 14 3 9
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PARKER, Shaun W,2-2....... 8.0 3 4 4 4 6 0 0 2 0 26 32 8 8
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ ......... 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 1
WP - Miller. HBP - by Asbury (Hook); by Parker (Edmeads); by Parker (Sousa).
Strikeouts - Serfass; Fritz 2; Posluszny; Clinton; Christoforo; Badger; Grose;
Cerulo. Walks - Bowling; Psomas; Carpenter; Christoforo; Badger; Grose; Canuso;
Miller; Querns; Cerulo.
Umpires -
Start: 2:25 pm Time: 2:36 Attendance: 400
