PISCATAWAY, NJ - Senior Jeff Grose (Iselin, NJ) drove in five runs and sophomore Frank Meade (Linden, NJ) belted a grand slam to lift Rutgers to a 15-9 victory over Pittsburgh in the second game of a doubleheader as the Scarlet Knights rebounded from a 12-11, heartbreaking loss in the first game to earn a split with the Panthers Saturday afternoon at the Class of 1953 Baseball Complex.
Fans and Scarlet Knights from years past on hand for Baseball Alumni Day at the field were treated to an offensive show in both contests with six home runs and 47 total runs scored on the day. Meade finished the day with a pair of home runs to give him 12 for the season, pulling him within one home run of the school’s single-season record set by Jeff Frazier in both the 2002 and 2004 seasons. The catcher hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning of the first game, before his grand slam in the seventh inning of the second contest, totaling seven RBI on the day. Grose extended his overall hitting streak to 11 games and his streak of multiple-hit games to eight, going 5-for-10 on the day with six RBI.
Rutgers (22-22-1, 9-11 BIG EAST) and Pittsburgh (19-23, 7-13 BIG EAST) traded home runs in the first inning of the first game with a pair of All-Americans slugging solo home runs for each team as Jim Negrych homered for Pitt and Todd Frazier (Toms River, NJ) clubbed an opposite-field shot for Rutgers.
The Panthers plated two more runs in the second and another run in the sixth, while the Scarlet Knights countered with single runs in the fifth and seventh to make it 4-3 in favor of Pittsburgh heading into the eighth inning.
The Panthers appeared to have blown the game open in the top-half of the eighth, with five hits, while capitalizing on a pair of Rutgers errors and several wild pitches to score six runs in the inning and take a commanding 10-3 lead.
The Scarlet Knights refused to quit, however, rallying in the bottom-half of the inning. Grose led off with a bunt single, and moved over to third on Mike Bionde’s (Pompton Plains, NJ) singled to right field, scoring on a Frazier double to right field. Meade then cleared the bases with a three-run blast to left-center field as Rutgers pushed across four runs without recording an out in the inning. The Scarlet Knights weren’t finished, however, putting the next two batters on thanks to a Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, NJ) walk and a Steve Hook (Langhorne, PA) single. With one out in the frame, Tim Querns (Cherry Hill, NJ) drove both runners home with a double to the gap in right-center. Pinch hitter Vic Cegles (Phoenix, AZ) then greeted Pitt’s third pitcher of the inning with a single to right field, moving Querns to third. In Grose’s second plate appearance of the inning, he delivered a single to right field to plate Querns, capping RU’s seven-run inning, tying the game at 10-10.
Pittsburgh threatened to re-capture its lead in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs against RU reliever Mark Lampariello (Annandale, NJ). On a controversial call by the home plate umpire, Lampariello was charged with a balk, scoring a run. The next pitch was grounded to Frazier at shortstop, who tagged out the runner from second base after a run down, but the Panthers plated a second run before the tag out to take a 12-10 lead.
Rutgers loaded the bases with no outs to start the ninth on a pair of singles by Frazier and Meade and a Hill walk. Hook plated one run with a sacrifice fly to left field. A fielder’s choice moved Meade over to third with two outs, but the Scarlet Knights fell 90 feet short of tying the game as Pittsburgh reliever Justin Cicatello got Querns, who had already driven in three runs in the game, to ground out to third base to end the game.
The Scarlet Knights belted out 17 hits in the first game, led by Frazier’s 5-for-5 performance.
Lampariello (0-1) was saddled with the loss, while Mike Bassage (2-2) got the win in two-thirds of an inning of relief for Pittsburgh. Both starters lasted seven innings, with Matt Pustay (Hamilton, NJ) surrendering six earned runs (seven total) on 11 hits with six strikeouts for Rutgers and Billy Muldowney giving up five runs on nine hits with four strikeouts for Pitt.
Game two was another offensive showcase with Pittsburgh taking the early advantage. Pitt had already scored a pair of runs in the second when Negrych added to it with his second home run of the day, this time hitting a grand slam to left-center field to give the Panthers a 6-0 lead.
Grose drove in his first two runs of the game with a bases-loaded double to the gap in left-center, before a Bionde sacrifice fly plated a third run as Rutgers cut Pittsburgh’s lead in half at 6-3 through two innings.
A pair of errors in the third inning cost the Panthers as Rutgers scored five unearned runs in the frame to take an 8-6 lead. The Scarlet Knights then built their lead to 10-6 thanks to a mammoth two-run home run by Hook – his ninth of the season.
The Panthers pulled back within a pair of runs with two runs of their own in the fifth, but that was as close as they would get.
Grose drove in his fifth run of the day with his second double of the game, this time clearing the wall on one hop in right field for the ground rule double. Rutgers later loaded the bases with two outs in the inning, and Meade delivered his second grand slam of the season to give Rutgers a 15-8 advantage.
Reliever Tony Wargo (New Providence, NJ) gave up a run in the ninth, but closed out the victory with a strikeout to seal the Scarlet Knights’ doubleheader split.
Senior Ryan Bradley (Overland Park, KS) (2-0) got the victory in 2.2 innings of middle relief. RU starter Sean Spicer (Pearl River, NY) lasted 4.1 innings, giving up eight runs on 14 hits, while his counterpart, Rob Brant of Pitt, worked just 2.2 innings, surrendering eight runs (three earned) on four hits with two strikeouts.
Rutgers scored 15 runs on just nine hits as five of those hits went for extra bases, while the Scarlet Knights capitalized on three Pittsburgh errors.
The Scarlet Knights and Panthers will meet in the rubber game in Sunday’s series finale.
2006 Rutgers Baseball
Pittsburgh at Rutgers
May 06, 2006 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of '53 Complex)
Pittsburgh 12 (19-22,7-12)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CLINE, David cf.......... 5 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 1
MAYER, Jimmy ss.......... 4 1 0 0 1 0 3 2 2
NEGRYCH, Jim 2b.......... 4 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 1
LAWLER, Rob dh........... 5 1 2 1 0 2 0 0 1
KIELTY, Morgan 1b........ 5 1 1 0 0 0 7 1 3
PARISE, Peter rf......... 5 4 5 1 0 0 0 0 0
WILLIAMS, Dan 3b......... 5 2 3 3 0 0 1 3 0
STEVENS, Jeff c.......... 4 1 1 1 1 1 6 2 0
CONLEY, Sean lf.......... 4 1 2 1 1 0 3 0 1
MULDOWNEY, Billy p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0
LANDIS, Kyle p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BASSAGE, Mike p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CICATELLO, Justin p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 41 12 16 8 5 6 27 12 8
Rutgers 11 (21-22-1,8-11)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
GROSE, Jeff cf........... 4 1 2 1 1 1 1 0 0
BIONDE, Mike 2b.......... 5 1 1 0 0 0 4 2 2
FRAZIER, Todd ss......... 5 3 5 2 0 0 2 1 0
MEADE, Frank c........... 5 1 2 3 0 2 5 2 0
HILL, Ryan lf............ 3 2 1 0 2 0 3 0 0
HOOK, Steve 1b........... 4 1 1 1 0 1 8 0 1
SANGEMINO, Vincent dh.... 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b........... 4 1 2 3 0 0 4 3 2
FELIZ, Luis rf........... 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
LIVINGSTON, Mike rf..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
EDWARDS, Tom ph......... 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
CALLAHAN, Donny rf...... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CEGLES, Victor ph....... 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
DOWNEY, Jason rf........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
PUSTAY, Matt p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
LILLIS, Chris p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BAIONE, Joe p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
LAMPARIELLO, Mark p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 39 11 17 11 3 4 27 10 6
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Pittsburgh.......... 120 001 062 - 12 16 0
Rutgers............. 100 010 171 - 11 17 2
-------------------------------------------
E - BIONDE(4); PUSTAY(2). DP - Pittsburgh 2; Rutgers 1. LOB - Pittsburgh 8;
Rutgers 6. 2B - PARISE 2(9); WILLIAMS(4); FRAZIER(14); SANGEMINO(3);
QUERNS(4). 3B - PARISE(3); WILLIAMS(2). HR - NEGRYCH(8); FRAZIER(5);
MEADE(11). SH - MAYER(1); QUERNS(9). SF - HOOK(1). SB - CONLEY(3); GROSE(9);
FRAZIER(17). CS - CLINE(3); FRAZIER(7).
Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
MULDOWNEY, Billy.... 7.0 9 5 5 1 4 27 29
LANDIS, Kyle........ 0.1 4 5 5 1 0 5 6
BASSAGE, Mike....... 0.2 2 0 0 0 0 3 3
CICATELLO, Justin... 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 4 6
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
PUSTAY, Matt........ 7.0 11 7 6 2 6 30 33
LILLIS, Chris....... 0.0 2 2 1 0 0 2 2
BAIONE, Joe......... 0.2 0 1 0 2 0 2 4
LAMPARIELLO, Mark... 1.1 3 2 2 1 0 7 8
Win - BASSAGE (2-2). Loss - LAMPARIELLO (0-1). Save - CICATELLO (3).
WP - LILLIS, C.(3); BAIONE 2(3). BK - LAMPARIELLO(1).
Umpires - HP: Tim Lombardo 1B: Dave Brudzinski 3B: Keith Segedy
Start: 12:00 Time: 3:15 Attendance: 387
Game notes:
ID-370799
PUSTAY faced 3 batters in the 8th.
LILLIS, C. faced 2 batters in the 8th.
MULDOWNEY,Bi faced 2 batters in the 8th.
Game: 56PITT-1
2006 Rutgers Baseball
Pittsburgh at Rutgers
May 06, 2006 at Piscataway, NJ (Class of '53 Complex)
Pittsburgh 9 (19-23,7-13)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
CLINE, David cf.......... 5 1 2 1 0 1 1 0 1
MAYER, Jimmy ss.......... 4 1 2 0 1 0 3 0 0
NEGRYCH, Jim 2b.......... 4 1 2 4 0 0 0 2 0
KIELTY, Morgan c......... 5 0 1 0 0 0 6 0 2
LAWLER, Rob dh........... 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2
SUCRE, Edgard ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
PARISE, Peter rf......... 5 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 3
WILLIAMS, Dan 3b......... 3 3 2 0 1 0 2 1 0
BUTTON, Seth 1b.......... 5 1 3 2 0 0 7 1 0
CONLEY, Sean lf.......... 5 1 3 2 0 1 2 0 1
BRANT, Rob p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DUNFORD, Ryan p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
CICATELLO, Justin p..... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
BAKER, Chad p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 40 9 17 9 3 3 24 8 9
Rutgers 15 (22-22-1,9-11)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
GROSE, Jeff cf........... 6 2 3 5 0 1 4 0 2
BIONDE, Mike 2b.......... 3 1 0 1 1 0 2 2 0
FRAZIER, Todd ss......... 4 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1
MEADE, Frank c........... 4 2 1 4 1 3 4 2 2
HILL, Ryan lf............ 5 1 1 0 0 1 4 0 2
SANGEMINO, Vincent dh.... 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
HOOK, Steve 1b........... 1 3 1 2 1 0 6 0 0
QUERNS, Tim 3b........... 3 3 0 0 0 0 3 3 0
FELIZ, Luis rf........... 3 1 0 1 2 0 3 1 0
SPICER, Sean p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
BRADLEY, Ryan p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
WARGO, Tony p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 33 15 9 13 6 5 27 9 7
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Pittsburgh.......... 060 020 001 - 9 17 3
Rutgers............. 035 200 50X - 15 9 0
-------------------------------------------
E - MAYER 2(14); WILLIAMS(13). DP - Rutgers 1. LOB - Pittsburgh 9; Rutgers
7. 2B - CLINE(5); PARISE(10); BUTTON 2(4); GROSE 2(11); HILL, R.(7). HR -
NEGRYCH(9); MEADE(12); HOOK(9). HBP - NEGRYCH; WILLIAMS; HOOK 3; QUERNS. SH
- SANGEMINO(1); QUERNS(10). SF - BIONDE(2). CS - CONLEY(4).
Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
BRANT, Rob.......... 2.2 4 8 3 4 2 12 19
DUNFORD, Ryan....... 3.2 3 5 5 2 3 14 18
CICATELLO, Justin... 0.2 1 2 2 0 0 4 4
BAKER, Chad......... 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 3 5
Rutgers IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
-----------------------------------------------
SPICER, Sean........ 4.1 14 8 8 2 0 24 27
BRADLEY, Ryan....... 2.2 1 0 0 1 0 8 9
WARGO, Tony......... 2.0 2 1 1 0 3 8 9
Win - BRADLEY, R. (2-0). Loss - BRANT (3-6). Save - None.
WP - BRANT(9); BRADLEY, R.(2). HBP - by BRANT (QUERNS); by BRANT (HOOK); by
SPICER (NEGRYCH); by DUNFORD (HOOK); by BAKER (HOOK); by WARGO (WILLIAMS). PB -
MEADE(9).
Umpires -
Start: 3:45 Time: 387 Attendance: 245
Game notes:
ID-379327
Game: 56PITT-2
