NORFOLK, VA - Old Dominion scored five runs in the seventh inning to break a 6-6 tie and Rutgers’ late rally fell short as the Monarchs handed the Scarlet Knight baseball team their first loss of the season, 11-9, Saturday afternoon at Bud Metheny Complex in Norfolk, VA. RU‘s season-opening three-game winning streak comes to an end as the Scarlet Knights move to 3-1 on the season, while ODU improves to 9-2.
Sophomore Frank Meade (Linden, NJ) gave the Scarlet Knights an early 3-0 lead with a swing of the bat in the second inning, drilling a home run over the center field fence, in nearly the same spot as his solo home run the day before against the Monarchs. Saturday’s shot, however, brought in three runs, also scoring sophomore Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, NJ) (single) and senior Steve Hook (Langhorne, PA).
Old Dominion opened its half of the second with four straight hits, including a pair of home runs, bringing home four runs. With two outs in the inning, ODU put together two more hits, adding a fifth run, which signaled the end of the day for Rutgers starter OJ DeChristofano (Pequannock, NJ). Junior Sean Spicer (Pearl River, NY) came in to record the final out of the inning.
The Scarlet Knights chipped away at the Monarchs’ lead with a run in the third. Senior Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ) drew a one-out walk and moved to third on a perfectly-executed hit and run single by sophomore Todd Frazier (Toms River, NJ), before scoring on a Hill grounder to second to make it 5-4.
Hill put RU back on top in his next at bat in the sixth inning with his third home run of the season. His two-run shot cleared the wall in left-center, plating Frazier and giving the Scarlet Knights a 6-5 advantage.
A solo home run by ODU’s Jesse Schoendienst in the bottom half of the sixth tied it up at 6-6. After a 1-2-3 seventh for the Scarlet Knights, the Monarchs put up five runs in the bottom half of the inning to surge out to an 11-5 lead. ODU loaded the bases twice in the inning and capped its five-run frame with Patrick Nichols’ second three-run home run of the game.
The Scarlet Knights came right back with three runs in the top of the eighth to cut the Monarchs’ lead to 11-9. Grose smacked a leadoff triple to the gap in right center and scored on the next play as Frazier’s grounder to the shortstop was misplayed. Friday’s hero David Williams (Franklin, NJ) doubled down the left field line, bringing home Frazier from second. Williams took third base on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch by ODU’s third pitcher of the inning, Dana Arrowood.
Redshirt freshman pitcher Tony Wargo (New Providence, NJ) made his collegiate debut, working a perfect eighth for the Scarlet Knights.
Junior Tim Querns (Cherry Hill, NJ) doubled down the left field line and junior Nick Stavrakis (Warren, NJ) reached on error to open the ninth for RU. Sophomore Donny Callahan (Sparta, NJ) came in to pinch run for Querns, but an alert Nichols behind the plate for ODU, picked off Callahan at second. Arrowood then got a pair of strikeouts to seal the victory for the Monarchs.
DeChristofano registered two strikeouts, while allowing five runs on seven hits in 1.2 innings. Spicer worked 4.1 innings, allowing one run on four hits with two walks and a strikeout. Seniors Joe Baione (Staten Island, NY) and Ryan Bradley (Overland Park, KS), along with sophomore Tim Woodhull (Princeton Junction, NJ) each appeared for RU in the Monarchs’ five-run seventh inning. Baione took the loss, allowing three runs on one hit, while Bradley surrendered two runs before getting RU’s first out of the inning. Woodhull finished the inning, recording the final two outs without allowing a hit.
ODU starter Jason Godin, the Collegiate Baseball National Pitcher of the Week, allowed eight runs (seven earned) on six hits, while posting seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings to get the win.
Rutgers and Old Dominion wrap up the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
2006 Rutgers Baseball
Rutgers at Old Dominion
Feb 25, 2006 at Norfolk, VA (Bud Metheny Complex)
Rutgers 9 (3-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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BIONDE, Mike 2b.......... 5 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 0
GROSE, Jeff cf........... 3 2 1 0 2 0 3 0 0
FRAZIER, Todd ss......... 5 2 2 0 0 2 3 3 2
HILL, Ryan lf............ 4 2 2 3 0 0 2 0 0
WILLIAMS, David rf....... 4 1 1 1 0 2 4 0 1
HOOK, Steve 1b........... 1 1 0 0 2 0 6 0 0
MEADE, Frank c........... 4 1 1 3 0 2 3 1 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b........... 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
CALLAHAN, Donny pr...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
STAVRAKIS, Nick dh....... 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ p...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SPICER, Sean p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BAIONE, Joe p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BRADLEY, Ryan p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WOODHULL, Tim p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
WARGO, Tony p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 34 9 8 7 4 9 24 9 3
Old Dominion 11 (9-2)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
MILES, Jimmy cf.......... 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 0
KEENAN, Chris 2b......... 4 1 2 1 1 1 2 5 0
ZAHN, Mike lf............ 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
CIPOLLA, Bryan 1b........ 4 2 2 1 0 0 11 0 0
ARROWOOD, Dana dh/p...... 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0
GREGULA, Justin 3b....... 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 2 2
NICHOLS, Patrick c....... 4 2 2 6 0 1 8 3 1
HAHN, Keith rf........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0
SCHOENDIENST, Jesse ss... 4 1 3 1 0 0 1 3 0
GODIN, Jason p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
JONES, Needham p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
Totals................... 34 11 14 11 4 3 27 14 4
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Rutgers............. 031 002 030 - 9 8 1
Old Dominion........ 050 001 50X - 11 14 2
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E - FRAZIER; GREGULA; SCHOENDIENST. DP - Rutgers 2; ODU 1. LOB - Rutgers 3;
ODU 4. 2B - WILLIAMS; QUERNS; KEENAN. 3B - GROSE. HR - HILL, R.; MEADE;
CIPOLLA; NICHOLS 2; SCHOENDIENST. HBP - HOOK. SF - GREGULA. SB - MILES. CS -
HOOK.
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
DECHRISTOFANO, OJ... 1.2 7 5 5 0 2 11 11
SPICER, Sean........ 4.1 4 1 1 2 1 15 17
BAIONE, Joe......... 0.0 1 3 3 2 0 1 3
BRADLEY, Ryan....... 0.1 2 2 2 0 0 2 3
WOODHULL, Tim....... 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2
WARGO, Tony......... 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
Old Dominion IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
GODIN, Jason........ 7.0 6 8 7 3 7 26 30
JONES, Needham...... 0.2 1 1 0 0 0 3 3
ARROWOOD, Dana...... 1.1 1 0 0 1 2 5 6
Win - GODIN (3-0). Loss - BAIONE (0-1). Save - ARROWOOD (2).
WP - ARROWOOD. HBP - by GODIN (HOOK).
Umpires - HP: Billy King 1B: David Speaks 3B: Rob Regan
Start: 1:00 Time: 2:30 Attendance: 318
Game notes:
ID-404386
BAIONE faced 3 batters in the 7th.
GODIN faced 2 batters in the 8th.
Game: 225ODU
