WILLIAMSBURG, VA - Sophomore Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, NJ) went 4-for-4 with a home run and three RBI to lead the Rutgers baseball team to a two-game sweep of William & Mary with a 9-6 victory over the Tribe in frigid temperatures at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg, VA Sunday afternoon. The Scarlet Knights moved to 2-0 with their second sweep of William & Mary in as many years. William & Mary drops to 1-3 with the loss.
Rutgers jumped on top with a run in the first inning. The Scarlet Knights loaded the bases and junior David Williams (Franklin, NJ) delivered a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing home junior Mike Bionde (Pompton Plains, NJ), who slid under the tag to score RU's first run of the game.
William & Mary countered with a run in the bottom of the inning as Brent McWhorter doubled down the left field line with two outs and scored on a misplayed ball on the next play.
Following a scoreless second, Rutgers loaded the bases again in the third, scoring three runs, to make it 4-1, despite recording just one hit through three innings. Rutgers opened the inning with a pair of walks sandwiched around a single to load the bases without registering an out. The Scarlet Knights scored all three runs without a hit, capitalizing on a pair of passed balls and a wild pitch.
RU tacked on another three runs in the fourth to build a 7-1 lead. Sophomore Todd Frazier (Toms River, NJ) smacked a double of the wall in left-center and stole third base where Hill brought him home with a single down the right field line. Williams followed with a single to right-center and sophomore Frank Meade (Linden, NJ) hit a blooper to left field, bring home Hill and Williams to give RU the 7-1 advantage.
The Tribe cut the Scarlet Knights' lead to two (7-5) with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, aided by a three-run home run by Mike Sheridan. A William & Mary single and walk following the home run signaled the end of the day for RU starter OJ DeChristofano (Pequannock, NJ). Sean Spicer (Pearl River, NY) replaced DeChristofano with two outs in the fifth, surrendering a run before getting out of the inning.
William & Mary cut the RU lead to one run in the bottom of the seventh as Jeff Lunardi brought in a run for the Tribe with a double of the left field wall. Frazier prevented further damage with a leaping grab on a line drive to end the William & Mary seventh.
Hill put the game out of reach for William & Mary with a swing of the bat in the top of the eighth. The sophomore completed a 4-for-4 day with a two-run home run (his second in as many games) over the right field fence to put the Scarlet Knights up 9-6. Hill is 5-for-6 with two home runs and six RBI in RU's two games this season, after bringing home three runs on Sunday.
DeChristofano worked 4.2 innings, striking out two, while allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits. Spicer pitched 2.1 innings, getting the win, allowing a run on four hits, while recording a strikeout. Senior Joe Baione (Staten Island, NY) pitched the eighth for RU, registering a hit and a strikeout. Sophomore Tim Woodhull (Princeton Junction, NJ) came in to close it out for the Scarlet Knights in the ninth for the save.
William & Mary starter Joe Roenker was tagged with the loss, lasting three innings, giving up four runs (three earned). Pat Kantakevich gave up four runs in 4.1 innings of work for the Tribe.
Rutgers returns home to New Jersey before traveling back to Virginia next weekend for a three-game series with Old Dominion in Norfolk, beginning Friday at 3 p.m.
2006 Rutgers Baseball
Rutgers at William & Mary
Feb 19, 2006 at Williamsburg, VA (Plumeri Park)
Rutgers 9 (2-0)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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BIONDE, Mike 2b.......... 4 1 0 0 1 0 3 5 3
GROSE, Jeff cf........... 4 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 2
FRAZIER, Todd ss......... 4 3 1 0 2 1 4 3 2
HILL, Ryan lf............ 4 3 4 3 1 0 2 0 0
WILLIAMS, David rf....... 3 2 1 1 1 0 2 0 0
HOOK, Steve 1b........... 4 0 0 0 1 2 8 1 3
MEADE, Frank c........... 4 0 1 2 1 3 4 2 1
QUERNS, Tim 3b........... 3 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 1
GOSSARD, Jon dh.......... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
STAVRAKIS, Nick ph/dh... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
SPICER, Sean p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BAIONE, Joe p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
WOODHULL, Tim p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 34 9 9 6 8 7 27 14 12
William & Mary 6 (1-3)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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Juliano, Paul lf......... 5 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1
Stanfield, Lanny ss...... 5 0 1 0 0 1 2 4 2
McWhorter, Brent 2b...... 5 2 2 0 0 0 2 2 0
Sexton, Greg 3b.......... 4 1 2 0 1 0 0 3 0
Lunardi, Jeff c.......... 5 0 2 2 0 1 7 0 1
McCraw, Tyler dh......... 2 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 2
Maliniak, Greg ph/dh.... 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Grieve, Sean cf.......... 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Guez, Ben rf............. 4 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 0
Sheridan, Mike 1b........ 3 1 3 3 0 0 10 0 0
Hurwitz, Aaron ph/1b.... 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Roenker, Joe p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kantakevich, Pat p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Vernon, Pete p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mante, Joe p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 38 6 12 5 4 4 27 12 9
Score by Innings R H E
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Rutgers............. 103 300 020 - 9 9 1
William & Mary...... 100 040 100 - 6 12 4
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E - T. Frazier; Stanfield; McWhorter; Sheridan; Vernon. DP - Rutgers 1. LOB
- Rutgers 12; W&M 9. 2B - T. Frazier; McWhorter; Sexton; Lunardi; Guez. HR -
R. Hill; Sheridan. HBP - M. Bionde; J. Grose; T. Querns. SH - T. Querns; N.
Stavrakis. SF - D. Williams. SB - T. Frazier; D. Williams; S. Hook;
McWhorter. CS - Juliano.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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DECHRISTOFANO, OJ... 4.2 6 5 4 3 2 19 22
SPICER, Sean........ 2.1 4 1 1 0 1 11 11
BAIONE, Joe......... 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 4 5
WOODHULL, Tim....... 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4
William & Mary IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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Roenker, Joe........ 3.0 1 4 3 7 2 8 19
Kantakevich, Pat.... 4.1 6 4 4 1 4 19 20
Vernon, Pete........ 0.2 1 1 1 0 1 4 4
Mante, Joe.......... 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 3 5
Win - OJ DeChristo (1-0). Loss - P. Kantakevi (1-1). Save - T. Woodhull (1).
WP - Roenker. HBP - by Roenker (M. Bionde); by Roenker (T. Querns); by Mante (J.
Grose). BK - S. Spicer. PB - Lunardi 2.
Umpires - HP: Tony Dillbeck 1B: Jim Stuck
Start: 2:00 Time: 3:36 Attendance: 217
Game notes:
ID-417262
Game: 219WM
