PISCATAWAY, NJ – The Rutgers baseball team exploded for 12 hits, including a 4-for-4 effort from sophomore Todd Frazier (Toms River, NJ) and three hits from junior Tim Querns (Cherry Hill, NJ) to defeat No. 29 West Virginia, 10-6, in BIG EAST baseball action Friday afternoon at the Class of 1953 Baseball Complex.
The Scarlet Knights improve to 11-14-1 overall and 3-4 in league play, while handing the Mountaineers just their fifth loss of the season, falling to 25-5 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
After a half-hour delay while officials waited for rain to clear the area, Rutgers starter Steve Holt (Toms River, NJ) made quick work of the Mountaineers with a 1-2-3 first inning. The Scarlet Knights then capitalized on several WVU defensive blunders to push a pair of runs across in their half of the first inning. Senior Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ) drew a leadoff walk and stole second. He moved over to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch by WVU starter Joe Stupka. Frazier collected his first hit of the game on a single to right field and moved to second on a fly out. Another wild pitch brought Frazier to third. Sophomore Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, NJ) then drew a walk to put runners at the corners. A botched pick off attempt on Hill between first and second scored Frazier from third as the ball to rolled to the outfield.
The Mountaineers got back both runs in the top of the second, however as Adam White laid down a bases-loaded bunt to reach base, while the throw to first was off target, resulting in a second runner to come around and score for WVU.
West Virginia captured its only lead of the game with a run in the top-half of the third, to take a 3-2 advantage. That lead was short-lived, however, as RU scored four runs in the bottom-half of the inning to stake a 6-3 lead. The Scarlet Knights loaded the bases to open the inning after Vic Cegles (Phoenix, AZ) smacked a leadoff double and Frazier laid down a perfect bunt for a single and later stole second, while Frank Meade (Linden, NJ) jammed the bases with a walk. A Hill groundout brought Cegles home before Steve Hook (Langhorne, PA) ripped a double to left field, plating Frazier and Meade. Querns then singled to left field to score Hook for the final run of the inning.
Rutgers ballooned its lead to 9-3 with three more runs in the fifth inning. Meade reached base after being hit by a pitch and was sacrificed over by Hill. Following a Hook walk to put runners on first and second, Querns drove home his second run of the day with a single through the right side. Pinch hitter Vinny Sangemino (Nutley, NJ) then walked to load the bases where Grose brought home two runs on a single to left field to give RU a six-run lead.
The Mountaineers cut the lead back to three runs on David Carpenter’s three-run home run left field to make it 9-6, ending Holt’s day.
Holt worked 5.1 innings for the win to improve to 4-3, surrendering four earned runs (six total) on 11 hits. He handed the ball over to senior lefty Joe Baione (Staten Island, NY), who got a pair of foul outs to end the WVU sixth inning.
Following back-to-back singles by Frazier and Meade to open the bottom-half of the sixth, Hill moved both runners over on his second sacrifice bunt of the game. Hook then collected his third RBI of the contest with a single to right field, scoring Frazier to make it 10-6.
With a four-run cushion, Baione pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of relief, surrendering just two hits with a strikeout to earn his second save of the season. He worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, getting a pop out to the catcher in foul territory to end the inning. Freshman Luis Feliz (New Brunswick, NJ) also made a spectacular diving catch to cap a 1-2-3 seventh inning for Baione.
Frazier’s four hits led a trio of Scarlet Knights with multiple hits on the day. Querns’ 3-for-4 effort drove in a pair of runs, while Hook rounded out the group, going 2-for-3 with three RBI.
Frazier’s 4-for-4 effort comes after he had his seven-game hitting streak snapped in the Scarlet Knights’ last game on Tuesday against Wagner. He scored a game-high three runs in the contest.
Rutgers and West Virginia continue their series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. game at the Class of 1953 Baseball Complex.
2006 Rutgers Baseball
#29 West Virginia at Rutgers
Apr 07, 2006 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of '53 Complex)
West Virginia 6 (25-5,5-2)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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KUHN 2b.................. 4 0 1 0 1 0 3 2 2
NELMS ss................. 5 0 1 0 0 0 2 3 4
JENKINS 3b............... 5 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 0
POSLUSZNY rf............. 5 0 2 1 0 0 2 0 1
MATUSZEK 1b.............. 5 2 1 0 0 1 8 0 0
BOWLING lf............... 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
MARKEL dh................ 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
SCHMIDT ph.............. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CARPENTER c.............. 4 1 3 3 0 0 5 2 0
WHITE cf................. 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 1 0
STUPKA p................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
HILL p.................. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Totals................... 40 6 13 5 1 1 24 12 8
Rutgers 10 (11-14-1,3-4)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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GROSE, Jeff cf........... 4 1 1 2 1 0 3 0 1
CEGLES, Victor 2b........ 5 1 1 0 0 1 1 3 2
BIONDE, Mike 2b......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
FRAZIER, Todd ss......... 4 3 4 0 1 0 4 6 0
MEADE, Frank c........... 3 2 1 0 1 0 2 0 0
HILL, Ryan lf............ 1 0 0 1 1 0 3 0 0
HOOK, Steve 1b........... 3 2 2 3 2 1 13 0 1
FELIZ, Luis rf........... 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 4
QUERNS, Tim 3b........... 4 1 3 2 0 0 0 3 0
EDWARDS, Tom dh.......... 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
SANGEMINO, Vincent dh... 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
HOLT, Steve p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BAIONE, Joe p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Totals................... 31 10 12 8 7 5 27 14 9
Score by Innings R H E
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West Virginia....... 021 003 000 - 6 13 1
Rutgers............. 204 031 00X - 10 12 2
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E - MATUSZEK(2); FRAZIER(8); QUERNS(3). DP - WVU 2; Rutgers 1. LOB - WVU 8;
Rutgers 9. 2B - POSLUSZNY(12); MARKEL(2); CEGLES(3); FRAZIER(8); HOOK(7). HR
- CARPENTER(2). HBP - MEADE; HILL, R.; FELIZ. SH - HILL, R. 2(2). SB -
GROSE(6); FRAZIER(12). CS - FRAZIER(5).
West Virginia IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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STUPKA.............. 4.0 6 7 6 4 2 16 22
HILL................ 4.0 6 3 3 3 3 15 21
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
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HOLT, Steve......... 5.1 11 6 4 0 0 26 26
BAIONE, Joe......... 3.2 2 0 0 1 1 14 15
Win - HOLT (4-3). Loss - STUPKA (3-1). Save - BAIONE (2).
WP - STUPKA 3(3); HILL(1). HBP - by STUPKA (FELIZ); by STUPKA (MEADE); by HILL
(HILL, R.). PB - CARPENTER(4).
Umpires - HP: Jack Oujo 1B: Harry Greer 3B: Ray Schoen
Start: 3:00 Time: 2:37 Attendance: 120
Game notes:
ID-417272
STUPKA faced 1 batter in the 5th.
Game: 47WVU
