PITTSBURGH, Pa. - A resilient Rutgers baseball team survived road trip hardships and a two-run deficit through seven innings to come back and beat Pittsburgh, 10-9, in a BIG EAST classic Friday evening at Trees Field. Frank Meade's (Linden, N.J.) home run in the 10th inning lifted the Scarlet Knights to their seventh-straight win.
The Scarlet Knights began their journey to Pittsburgh at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday and did not arrive in the Steel city until noon on Friday due to flight cancellations. Rutgers battled back on less than five hours sleep to down the Panthers and maintain first place in the BIG EAST with a 17-5 league mark and improve to 32-16 overall. Pitt fell to 13-8 in the league and 24-22 overall.
Down 8-6 through seven innings, RU began its comeback with a run in the eighth on an RBI groundout from Tim Querns (Cherry Hill, N.J.).
The Scarlet Knights then continued their rally in the ninth when Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, N.J.) walked and Dave Williams (Franklin, N.J.) singled to put runners on second and third. Sophomore Tom Edwards (Caldwell, N.J.) then popped up in foul territory down the left-field line for the second out, which allowed Hill to tag up at third and score the tying run. As the left fielder who made the putout went to transfer the ball out of his glove to throw home, the ball dropped to the ground and an alert Williams rounded third and headed for the plate to score the go-ahead run. The play proved crucial as Pittsburgh tied it up with a run in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings.
The tie score didn't last long as Meade took the first pitch of the 10th inning over the left-field fence to make it 10-9.
Pitt made it interesting with a runner on third with two outs in the bottom-half of the 10th, but the veteran reliever Chris Lillis (Fair Haven, N.J.) got Edgard Sucre to go down looking to earn the win.
Earlier in the game, Rutgers appeared to be in control with a 5-0 lead through the top half of the third inning. Junior All-American Todd Frazier (Toms River, N.J.) led off the game with a double to left field and scored Rutgers' first run two plays later on a Hill RBI single. Back-to-back doubles by Williams and Edwards scored two more runs as the Scarlet Knights jumped out to an early 3-0 advantage. A two-run home run by Ryan Hill (Hillsdale, N.J.) in the third made it 5-0.
Pittsburgh answered Rutgers with two runs in the bottom half of the third and pulled within one score with a two-run fifth inning. The Scarlet Knights and Panthers then traded single runs in the sixth to make it 6-5.
Pitt's Seth Button hit a two-run double to highlight a three-run seventh as the Panthers took their first lead of the game with an 8-6 advantage, setting up the late-inning dramatics.
Lillis improved to 3-2 with two scoreless innings of relief. Pitt reliever Kyle Landis (3-4), who entered the game with a 1.77 ERA, was tagged with the loss with three runs on two hits in three innings.
Williams led Rutgers with three hits, while Hill and Edwards each drove in three runs for the Scarlet Knights. Junior Jon Gossard (Harrington Park, N.J.) finished the day 0-for-3, ending his impressive 24-game hitting streak.
Rutgers and Pittsburgh will continue their series tomorrow with a 3:00 p.m. game. Freshman righty Casey Gaynor (Toms River, N.J.) will be on the mound for the Scarlet Knights against senior righty Paul Nardozzi for the Panthers.
