PISCATAWAY, NJ – Making his first start for the Scarlet Knights, junior Ryan Bradley (Overland Park, KS) took a shutout into the eighth inning today as Rutgers knocked off Rider, 11-2, in its home opener at the Class of ’53 Baseball Complex. Freshman Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, NJ) supplied all the offense Bradley needed, knocking in four runs including a three-run home run that broke the game open in the seventh inning. Junior Johnny Defendis (Staten Island, NY) added a 4-for-5, two-RBI performance for the Scarlet Knights, who improve to 13-9 with the win. Rider is now 4-13.
Rutgers scored twice in the second when Rich Canuso (Monroe, NJ) and Defendis led off with back-to-back doubles, putting runners at second and third. Cory Rodriguez (Bridgewater, NJ) then plated Canuso with a sacrifice fly, while Defendis came around to score on a crisp single by David Williams (Franklin, NJ). The score remained at 2-0 into the fifth, when Hill singled home Todd Frazier (Toms River, NJ), who had reached on a one-out single. Williams then doubled home Defendis (leadoff single) in the sixth for a 4-0 lead and Hill broke the game open with his three-run blast in the seventh, driving in Frazier (single) and Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ), who had walked.
Bradley, meanwhile, cruised through the Rider order, setting down the side in the first and third innings, while using a 1-6-3 double play to face the minimum nine hitters through the first three innings. It wasn’t until the eighth that Rider broke through, getting RBI singles from Gene Crimoli and Tom Letizia. RU tacked on four more in the eighth, highlighted Defendis’ two-run single and a sacrifice fly from Frazier.
Bradley (1-0) worked eight innings and allowed seven hits and two runs, while walking one and striking out one. Tim Woodhull (Princeton Junction, NJ) polished off the win with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. The top three hitters in the RU order – Frazier, Grose and Hill – collected three hits apiece, as did Williams. Defendis led the way with his third four-hit game of the season.
Rutgers returns to BIG EAST action this weekend, hosting Notre Dame for a three-game series. Saturday’s doubleheader is set to begin at noon.
The Automated ScoreBook
Rider at Rutgers
Mar 31, 2005 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of 53 Complex)
Rider 2 (4-13)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Mike Poalise cf.......... 4 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 0
Doug Bradley p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tom Letizia 2b........... 3 1 1 1 1 0 3 2 0
Scott Knazek c........... 3 0 0 0 1 0 6 0 1
Jon Rehm 3b.............. 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
Gene Crimoli 1b.......... 4 0 2 1 0 0 5 1 0
Jordan McCreedy dh....... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Brad States pr/rf....... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Jon Leise lf/cf.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0
Charles Van Schaick rf/lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 2
Bryan Wagner ss.......... 3 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0
Will O'Connor p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Stephen Sciaraffo p/lf.. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 32 2 7 2 3 1 24 7 7
Rutgers 11 (13-9)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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FRAZIER, Todd ss......... 4 2 2 1 0 0 2 7 0
GROSE, Jeff lf........... 4 2 2 0 1 1 0 1 0
HILL, Ryan dh............ 5 1 2 4 0 1 0 0 0
CANUSO, Rich 1b.......... 4 2 1 0 1 0 13 1 2
GOSSARD, Jon c.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny cf...... 5 2 4 2 0 0 2 0 0
RODRIGUEZ, Cory 2b....... 3 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 0
CEGLES, Vic ph/2b....... 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
WILLIAMS, Dave rf........ 4 0 2 2 0 1 2 0 1
HOOK, Steve rf/1b....... 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0
MEADE, Frank c........... 3 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 1
CALLAHAn, Donny ph/rf... 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3
GROVER, Jason 3b......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 2
QUERNS, Tim ph/3b....... 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
BRADLEY, Ryan p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0
WOODHULL, Tim p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals................... 37 11 14 11 5 6 27 18 9
Score by Innings R H E
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Rider............... 000 000 020 - 2 7 1
Rutgers............. 020 011 34X - 11 14 1
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E - Rehm; T. Frazier. DP - Rutgers 1. LOB - RIDER 7; Rutgers 9. 2B - R.
Canuso; J. Defendis 2; D. Williams; T. Querns. HR - R. Hill(3). HBP -
McCreedy. SF - T. Frazier; C Rodriguez. SB - T. Frazier.
Rider IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Will O'Connor....... 6.0 8 4 4 0 4 26 27
Stephen Sciaraffo... 1.0 3 4 4 2 1 6 8
Charles Van Schaick. 0.2 3 3 3 1 0 4 6
Doug Bradley........ 0.1 0 0 0 2 1 1 3
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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BRADLEY, Ryan....... 8.0 7 2 2 3 1 29 33
WOODHULL, Tim....... 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
Win - R. Bradley (1-0). Loss - O'Connor (0-3). Save - None.
WP - O'Connor 3. HBP - by R. Bradley (McCreedy). PB - F. Meade.
Umpires -
Start: 3:00 pm Time: 2:41 Attendance: 150
Game notes:
ID-335211
Sciaraffo faced 1 batter in the 8th.
Game: RIDER-1
