LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Scott Knazek, who finished the game 5-for-6 with 4 RBI, singled home Bryan Wagner in the bottom of the 10th to snap a 6-6 tie and give Rider a 7-6 win over Rutgers this afternoon at Sonny Pittaro Field. RU had tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh on a two-out balk, but failed to score in the eighth and ninth, forcing extra innings. With the loss, RU is now 18-12, while Rider improved to 8-17.
Rutgers scored a single run in the first when Colin Gaynor (Toms River, NJ) singled with two outs and scored on a double by Johnny Defendis (Staten Island, NY) and added another in the second, after Rider tied the game at 1-1, on a solo home run by Steve Hook (Langhorne, PA). The Broncs, however, stormed back with two in the third to take a 3-2 lead on a single from Knazek and John Rehm’s bases-loaded walk against RU starter Tom Malafronte (Somerville, NJ).
After reclaiming the lead, 4-3, in the fourth on two-out, RBI singles from Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, NJ) and Jon Gossard (Harrington Park, NJ), Rider once again stormed back with two of its own and a 5-4 lead through four innings.
A leadoff single in the fifth from Todd Frazier (Toms River, NJ) and another Defendis RBI retied the game at 5-5, but Rider scored a run in the bottom half, pushing itself back on top, 6-5. The Scarlet Knights rallied for a run in the seventh on a balk, which scored Frazier (leadoff walk), but failed to break through again vs. the Rider bullpen, which allowed just one hit in 4.0 innings of work.
RU received strong relief outings from Matt Pustay (Hamilton, NJ), who worked three shutout innings, and Sean Spicer (Pearl River, NY), who added two. Defendis led RU with a 3-for-4, 2 RBI effort as the team’s lone repeat hitter. Freshman Tim Woodhull (Princeton Jct., NJ) allowed the winning run in the 10th, suffering his first loss of the season (2-1).
RU returns to action on Saturday, when it hosts Boston College in a BIG EAST doubleheader beginning at noon.
The Automated ScoreBook
Rutgers at Rider
Apr 14, 2005 at Lawrenceville, NJ (Sonny Pittaro Field)
Rutgers 6 (18-12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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FRAZIER, Todd ss......... 4 2 1 0 1 0 1 3 0
GROSE, Jeff lf........... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
GAYNOR, Colin dh......... 5 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
DEFENDIS, Johnny cf...... 4 1 3 2 1 0 5 0 0
RODRIGUEZ, Cory 2b....... 5 1 1 0 0 2 3 1 2
HILL, Ryan rf............ 4 0 1 1 1 1 3 0 0
HOOK, Steve 1b........... 4 1 1 1 0 1 7 1 3
GOSSARD, Jon c........... 5 0 1 1 0 1 8 0 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b........... 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 3
MALAFRONTE, Tom p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 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
WOODHULL, Tim p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 39 6 10 5 3 8 29 11 8
Rider 7 (8-17)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Mike Poalise cf.......... 4 2 1 0 1 0 4 0 2
Tom Letizia 3b........... 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0
Scott Knazek c........... 6 0 5 4 0 0 8 1 0
Jon Rehm 2b.............. 4 0 0 1 1 0 2 2 2
Gene Crimoli 1b.......... 4 1 1 0 1 2 7 0 1
Jordan McCreedy dh....... 4 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3
Jon Leise lf............. 4 0 0 0 1 1 4 1 0
Charles Van Schaick rf... 2 1 1 0 0 1 2 0 0
Brad States ph/rf....... 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3
Bryan Wagner ss.......... 5 2 2 0 0 1 1 3 0
Erik Holck p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Derek Caldwell p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stephen Sciaraffo p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Justin Roszkowski p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 40 7 12 5 6 6 30 10 12
Score by Innings R H E
---------------------------------------------
Rutgers............. 110 210 100 0 - 6 10 2
Rider............... 102 210 000 1 - 7 12 1
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Note: 2 outs, 1 runner LOB when the game ended.
E - T. Frazier; M. Pustay; Rehm. LOB - Rutgers 8; RIDER 12. 2B - J.
Defendis. HR - S. Hook. HBP - J. Grose; S. Hook; Letizia. SH - Poalise. SB -
McCreedy; Wagner. CS - J. Defendis; Knazek.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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MALAFRONTE, Tom..... 4.0 8 6 5 4 4 19 24
PUSTAY, Matt........ 3.0 1 0 0 0 1 11 11
SPICER, Sean........ 2.0 1 0 0 2 1 7 9
WOODHULL, Tim....... 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 3 4
Rider IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
Erik Holck.......... 6.0 9 6 4 1 4 26 28
Derek Caldwell...... 1.0 0 0 0 2 0 3 6
Stephen Sciaraffo... 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 7 7
Justin Roszkowski... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3
Win - Roszkowski (2-3). Loss - T. Woodhull (2-1). Save - None.
WP - Malafronte. HBP - by Malafronte (Letizia); by Holck (S. Hook); by Caldwell
(J. Grose). BK - Caldwell.
Umpires -
Start: 3:00 pm Time: 3:12 Attendance: 250
Malafronte faced 2 batters in the 5th.
Holck faced 1 batter in the 7th.
Game: RIDER-2
