PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Senior Dave Williams (Franklin, N.J.) and junior Jon Gossard (Harrington Park, N.J.) each drove in three runs on three hits to lead the Rutgers baseball team to a 13-9 victory over New Jersey rival Seton Hall Friday afternoon in the series opener at Bainton Field.
The Scarlet Knights, who sit in first place in the BIG EAST standings, improved to 8-2 in the league and 19-13 overall. Seton Hall dropped to 4-6 in the BIG EAST and 15-15 overall.
Rutgers raced out to a 7-0 lead through the first three innings with three runs in the first, and two each in the second and third.
With runners on the corners in the first, Williams laid down a perfect bunt that trickled down the third-base line for a base hit and allowed Todd Frazier (Toms River, N.J.) to score from third for RU's first run of the game. Later in the inning with runners on second and third, Gossard hit a two-out single through the right side to bring home a pair of Scarlet Knights for the early 3-0 advantage.
With one out in the second, Luis Feliz (New Brunswick, N.J.) drew a walk and Frazier followed with a single to left field to set the table for Mike Bionde (Pompton Plains, N.J.). The senior delivered with an RBI single to left field to score Feliz. A rattled Seton Hall starter Corey Young then balked which allowed Frazier to score his second run of the contest and pass Graig Badger (2001-04) to move into fifth place on the Rutgers all-time runs scored list with 171 in his career.
Sophomore Tom Edwards (Caldwell, N.J.) extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a double to lead off the third inning. He later came around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Frank Meade (Linden, N.J.). Feliz then put the Scarlet Knights up 7-0 with a two-out double to the gap in right-center field to score Tim Querns (Cherry Hill, N.J.) (walk).
Meanwhile, Rutgers starter Matt Giannini (Millington, N.J.) was making quick work of Seton Hall with a no-hitter through the first third of the game. After hitting the first batter of the contest, he retired 10-straight Pirates spanning one out into the fourth inning. Giannini worked around a walk to get the second out of the fourth inning on an infield pop out.
Seton Hall, however, put together a two-out rally, putting the next five batters on base to chase Giannini out of the game. With four runs already across, Rutgers turned to reliever Kevin Lillis (Fair Haven, N.J.). Lillis' first batter, Mike Young, hit a sharp grounder that was mishandled at third base, allowing two more runs across. A wild pitch then scored another run for Seton Hall and tied the game at 7-7, but the second Pirate runner tried to stretch out another base on an errant throw on the play and Edwards, backing up home plate, scooped up the ball and fired home to prevent the run and get the elusive third out of the inning.
The score wasn't tied very long as Young dealt his second wild pitch of the game to score Bionde (walk) in the bottom half of the frame. RU wasn't finished in the inning, plating three more runs when Gossard and Meade sandwiched RBI singles around a Querns sacrifice fly in foul territory to give Rutgers an 11-7 edge.
The Scarlet Knights and Pirates traded two-run home runs in the fifth with Williams doing the damage for RU and Chris Affinito for SHU.
A four-run cushion was no problem for Jason Downey (Ballston Lake, N.J.) who entered in the sixth and allowed just two hits without a walk in four scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory and improve to 4-1 on the season.
Young (2-3) was saddled with the loss for the Pirates after surrendering 11 runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings with two strikeouts and five walks.
Rutgers and Seton Hall will wrap up their three-game series with a doubleheader beginning at noon tomorrow at Bainton Field in Piscataway.
