PRINCETON, NJ – With the game tied at 1-1 in the eighth, Princeton scored twice and held on for a 3-2 win over Rutgers in non-conference baseball action this afternoon at Clarke Field. Andrew Salini led off with a double and Ryan Eldridge plated him with a single up the middle to snap the tie, while Rutgers rallied for a run in the top of the ninth, but left the tying run stranded on second. With the loss, RU falls to 12-9, while Princeton improves to 5-11.
Rutgers pushed across a run in the first, when Todd Frazier (Toms River, NJ) opened the game with a walk and stole second. He then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ) and scored when a groundball by Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ) was misplayed. RU put runners at the corners with one out in the sixth and seemed primed to snap the 1-1 tie, but a 6-4-3 double play ended the threat.
In the ninth, Johnny Defendis (Staten Island, NY) was hit by a pitch and Cory Rodriguez (Bridgewater, NJ) singled to get things started, while a sacrifice bunt by David Williams (Franklin, NJ) moved both runners into scoring position. Pinch-hitter Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, NJ) delivered Defendis with a sac fly to deep center, but Rodriguez was left stranded when Steve Hook (Langhorne, PA) flew out to Salini to end the game.
Matt Pustay (Hamilton, NJ) allowed both runs in the eighth and suffered the loss, falling to 2-3. RU starter Jim Jansen (Hillsdale, NJ) worked seven strong innings and allowed just one run, on seven hits, while striking out one. Jason Grover (Montgomery, NJ) had a double, RU’s only extra-base hit.
Rutgers returns to action tomorrow, when it opens at home following 21-straight road games by hosting Rider at 3:00 p.m.
The Automated ScoreBook
Rutgers at Princeton
Mar 30, 2005 at Princeton, NJ (Clarke Field)
Rutgers 2 (12-9)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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FRAZIER, Todd ss......... 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
GROSE, Jeff lf........... 2 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 0
GAYNOR, Colin dh......... 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
CANUSO, Rich 1b.......... 3 0 1 0 1 0 7 0 1
DEFENDIS, Johnny cf...... 3 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 1
RODRIGUEZ, Cory 2b....... 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
WILLIAMS, Dave rf........ 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 1
GOSSARD, Jon c........... 3 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 1
HILL, Ryan ph........... 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
GROVER, Jason 3b......... 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1
HOOK, Steve ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
JANSEN, Jim p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
PUSTAY, Matt p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SPICER, Sean p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 27 2 4 2 4 3 24 2 7
Princeton 3 (5-11)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Prince 2b................ 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0
Venable cf............... 3 0 1 0 1 1 6 0 0
Salini rf................ 4 1 1 0 0 0 5 0 1
Eldridge dh.............. 4 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 1
Petrulis pr............. 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Balkan lf................ 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Iacono c................. 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 0
Wendkos 3b............... 3 0 1 1 1 0 0 3 0
Wendell 1b............... 3 0 0 1 0 1 8 0 4
Becker ss................ 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 2
Staehely p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Miller p................ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Kappel p................ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 32 3 10 3 2 3 27 11 8
Score by Innings R H E
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Rutgers............. 100 000 001 - 2 4 1
Princeton........... 000 100 02X - 3 10 2
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E - J. Gossard; Wendkos; Wendell. DP - Princeton 2. LOB - Rutgers 7;
Princeton 8. 2B - J. Grover; Salini. HBP - J. Defendis. SH - J. Grose; C.
Gaynor; D. Williams. SF - R. Hill; Wendell. SB - T. Frazier; J. Grose;
Petrulis; Balkan.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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JANSEN, Jim......... 7.0 7 1 1 2 1 26 29
PUSTAY, Matt........ 0.1 2 2 1 0 0 3 3
SPICER, Sean........ 0.2 1 0 0 0 2 3 3
Princeton IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Staehely............ 4.0 2 1 1 2 1 14 16
Miller.............. 4.0 1 0 0 2 2 11 15
Kappel.............. 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 2 5
Win - Miller (1-1). Loss - M. Pustay (2-3). Save - Kappel .
HBP - by Kappel (J. Defendis).
Umpires - HP: Paul McColgan 1B: Joe LaBella
Start: 3:00 pm Time: 2:16 Attendance: 250
Game: PTON-1
