NOTRE DAME, IN – The BIG EAST’s top pitching staff
bested the top hitting team in both ends of today’s doubleheader, as
Notre Dame swept Rutgers at Eck Stadium. In the opener, ND’s Grant Johnson
outdueled Jack Egbert (Rutherford, NJ) for a 1-0 win, while the Irish scored
single runs in each of the first four innings en route to a 7-1 win in the
second game. With the losses, RU is now 29-19, while ND is 41-9.
The lone run in the opener was produced in the Irish half of the third inning.
Egbert drilled Cody Rizzo with the first pitch of the inning and Rizzo advanced
to second on a sacrifice bunt from Greg Lopez, setting the stage for leadoff
hitter Matt Macri. Egbert left a 1-0 fastball up in the zone and Macri turned
on it, lacing a double down the line in left for a 1-0 lead.
Rutgers posed a mild threat in the fourth, when Graig Badger (Union, NJ) led
off with a single and moved to second on a Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ) sacrifice.
Jeff Frazier (Toms River, NJ) fell behind, 1-2, but fouled off several pitches
before Johnson froze him with an outside fastball for strike three. On the
pitch, Badger stole third without a throw but was stranded when Rich Canuso
(Monroe, NJ) grounded out. Rutgers put two runners on in the seventh vs. Johnson
on a leadoff single from Canuso and a walk to Nick Cerulo (Woodbridge, NJ),
but failed to score.
Egbert (7-4) allowed six hits and one run, walking two and striking out two.
He has now pitched 14 career innings vs. ND, allowing just three runs, but
has not received any run support in his two starts.
In the second game, Notre Dame took a 4-1 lead against RU starter Aaron Kalb
(Middletown, NJ) and built a 6-1 lead when Steve Andres homered to right off
reliever Erik Dial (Basking Ridge, NJ).
RU’s lone run scored on an RBI single from Colin Gaynor (Toms River,
NJ) in the second inning, plating Canuso (leadoff double). Rutgers had another
great opportunity in the fourth, when Jason Grover (Montgomery, NJ) and Graig
Badger (Union, NJ) led off with back-to-back singles, but ND starter Chris
Niesel bounced back to strike out Grose, Frazier and Canuso to end the inning.
The Scarlet Knights had two runners on in the fifth, and again in the seventh,
but failed to score in those innings as well. The offensive struggles continued
in the eighth, when Rutgers loaded the bases with no outs on a single and a
pair of walks, but failed to score. In all, Rutgers was 1-for-19 with runners
in scoring position in the doubleheader.
Grover (3-for-4) and Badger (3-for-4) were the offensive stars in game two
for the Scarlet Knights. Kalb (4 IP, 6 H, 4 R) suffered the loss, falling to
5-3. The two teams return to action tomorrow night at 7 p.m., to accommodate
Notre Dame’s graduation ceremony.
TRAVEL WOES: Rutgers’ trip to South Bend turned into an interesting
adventure. Delayed for four hours in Newark because of severe thunderstorms
in the Midwest, Rutgers missed its connecting flight from Detroit to South
Bend. The Scarlet Knights arrived in Detroit at 10:00 p.m., well past the original
6:18 p.m. arrival time and prepared to board a bus for its three-hour ride
to South Bend. Northwest Airlines, however, refused to release Rutgers’ luggage,
causing a delay of two additional hours before the bags arrived on the carousel.
Rutgers finally boarded its bus at 12:00 p.m. and arrived in South Bend shortly
past 3:00 a.m.
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Rutgers at #9 Notre Dame
May 15, 2004 at Notre Dame, IN (Eck Stadium)
Rutgers 0 (40-9,16-5 BE) Notre Dame 1 (29-19,13-6 BE)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 3 0 2 0 MACRI, Matt 3b............. 2 0 2 1
GROSE, Jeff lf............. 2 0 0 0 SOLLMANN, Steve 2b......... 2 0 1 0
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 3 0 0 0 BRANSFIELD, Matt dh........ 3 0 0 0
CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 3 0 1 0 SANCHEZ, Javi c............ 3 0 1 0
WILLIAMS, David pr........ 0 0 0 0 ANDRES, Steve lf........... 2 0 0 0
GAYNOR, Colin c............ 2 0 0 0 DRESSMAN, Danny ph........ 1 0 0 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny dh........ 3 0 1 0 NETTEY, Alex cf........... 0 0 0 0
CERULO, Nick cf............ 2 0 0 0 COOPER, Craig rf/lf........ 3 0 2 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b............. 3 0 0 0 EDWARDS, Matt 1b........... 3 0 0 0
GROVER, Jason ss........... 2 0 0 0 RIZZO, Cody cf/rf.......... 1 1 0 0
EGBERT, Jack p............. 0 0 0 0 LOPEZ, Greg ss............. 1 0 0 0
JOHNSON, Grant p........... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 23 0 4 0 Totals..................... 21 1 6 1
Score by Innings R H E
-----------------------------------------
Rutgers............. 000 000 0 - 0 4 0
Notre Dame.......... 001 000 X - 1 6 1
-----------------------------------------
E - Matt Edwards. DP - Rutgers 2. LOB - Rutgers 5; Notre Dame 6. 2B - Matt Macri.
HBP - Cody Rizzo. SH - Grose; Gaynor; Greg Lopez. SB - Badger(24); Matt Macri; Craig
Cooper.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGBERT, Jack L,7-4........ 6.0 6 1 1 2 2 1 0 1 1 21 25 6 8
Notre Dame IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHNSON, Grant W,4-0...... 7.0 4 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 23 26 7 11
WP - Egbert. HBP - by Egbert (Cody Rizzo).
Strikeouts - Badger; Frazier; Cerulo; S. Sollmann; Steve Andres. Walks - Cerulo;
Matt Macri; S. Sollmann.
Umpires -
Start: 12:00 pm Time: 1:45 Attendance: 1500
** 2004 RUTGERS BASEBALL **
Rutgers at #9 Notre Dame
May 15, 2004 at Notre Dame, IN (Eck Stadium)
Rutgers 1 (29-19,13-7 BE) Notre Dame 7 (41-9,17-5 BE)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
BADGER, Graig 2b........... 4 0 3 0 MACRI, Matt 3b............. 4 1 3 1
GROSE, Jeff lf............. 5 0 0 0 SOLLMANN, Steve 2b......... 5 0 1 0
FRAZIER, Jeff rf........... 4 0 1 0 BRANSFIELD, Matt dh........ 4 1 1 1
CANUSO, Rich 1b............ 2 1 1 0 SANCHEZ, Javi c............ 4 1 1 0
GAYNOR, Colin c............ 3 0 1 1 ANDRES, Steve lf........... 3 1 2 3
MILLER, Jeff c............ 0 0 0 0 NETTEY, Alex pr/cf........ 0 1 0 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny dh........ 3 0 0 0 COOPER, Craig rf/lf........ 3 1 2 1
CERULO, Nick cf............ 3 0 0 0 EDWARDS, Matt 1b........... 4 0 0 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b............. 3 0 0 0 RIZZO, Cody cf/rf.......... 4 1 1 0
RODRIGUEZ, Cory ph........ 1 0 0 0 LOPEZ, Greg ss............. 3 0 1 1
GROVER, Jason ss........... 4 0 3 0 NIESEL, Chris p............ 0 0 0 0
KALB, Aaron p.............. 0 0 0 0 KAPALA, Dan p............. 0 0 0 0
DIAL, Erik p.............. 0 0 0 0
PUSTAY, Matt p............ 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 32 1 9 1 Totals..................... 34 7 12 7
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Rutgers............. 010 000 000 - 1 9 0
Notre Dame.......... 111 120 10X - 7 12 0
-------------------------------------------
DP - Notre Dame 3. LOB - Rutgers 10; Notre Dame 8. 2B - Canuso; Craig Cooper 2; Cody
Rizzo. 3B - Steve Andres. HR - Steve Andres. HBP - Badger; Canuso. SH - Defendis;
Greg Lopez. SF - Matt Macri. SB - Matt Macri; Alex Nettey.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
KALB, Aaron L,5-3......... 4.0 6 4 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 16 20 6 4
DIAL, Erik ................ 3.0 4 3 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 13 14 7 1
PUSTAY, Matt .............. 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 2 0
Notre Dame IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
NIESEL, Chris W,7-2....... 7.0 8 1 1 1 9 0 0 1 0 26 29 6 4
KAPALA, Dan ............... 2.0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 6 9 1 4
HBP - by Chris Niesel (Canuso); by Dan Kapala (Badger).
Strikeouts - Grose; Frazier; Canuso; Gaynor 2; Cerulo 2; Querns 2; S. Sollmann;
Steve Andres; Craig Cooper; Cody Rizzo. Walks - Canuso; Gaynor; Cerulo; Bransfield;
Steve Andres; Craig Cooper.
Umpires -
Start: 2:18 pm Time: 2:32 Attendance: 1500
