CINCINNATI, Ohio - The Rutgers baseball team rebounded from a tough 11-10 loss to Cincinnati in game one with a resounding 13-9 victory over the Bearcats in a see-saw battle in the nightcap of a BIG EAST baseball double-header Saturday afternoon at Marge Schott Stadium.

RU improved to 20-24-1 overall and 9-11 in BIG EAST play, while Cincinnati moved to 28-18 overall and 13-7 in the league.

Junior Luis Feliz (New Brunswick, N.J.) completed the day 7-for-10 from the plate with seven RBI and three runs scored. He hit a double and a home run in each game of the double-header, going 3-for-5 in the opener and 4-for-5 in the nightcap. Freshman Jaren Matthews (Teaneck, N.J.) also had a productive day with six hits, including a pair of home runs and a 5-for-5 effort in the first contest.

Rutgers went up 2-0 in the second inning of the nightcap when Feliz took Cincinnati starter Michael Hill's first offering over the right field fence for a two-run shot - his second home run of the day.

Cincinnati tied it up with one swing of the bat in the bottom of the third, however, when Josh Harrison hit a two-run home run over the left-field fence with two outs in the frame.

Cameron Satterwhite then gave the Bearcats the lead when he led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run to left field to make it 3-2.

It was Rutgers' turn in the fifth. Senior Donny Callahan (Sparta, N.J.) led off the inning with a bunt single and Jon Gossard (Harrington Park, N.J.) drew a four-pitch walk with two outs in the frame. The Scarlet Knights then got a huge lift, literally, when Matthews crushed Hill's first offering off the top of the wall of Fifth Third Arena, Cincinnati's basketball facility, behind the right field fence for a three-run blast that traveled over 450 feet to give RU a 5-3 lead in the back-and-fourth affair.

Freshman Pat Biserta (Point Pleasant, N.J.) put the Scarlet Knights up three runs when he took an 0-2 pitch over the right field fence for a solo shot in the sixth to chase Hill out of the game.

Meanwhile, Rutgers starter Jason Downey (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) worked five strong innings with three strikeouts before leaving prematurely as reliever Matt Patterson (Passaic, N.J.) entered in the sixth.  

A pair of Rutgers infield errors proved costly in the sixth as Cincinnati followed the miscues with four-straight two-out hits against Patterson, capped by a Jamel Scott double, to score four runs and re-gain a one-run lead with a 7-6 advantage.

The Bearcat lead was once again short-lived, however, as Tom Edwards (West Caldwell, N.J.) doubled down the left-field line in the seventh and scored on a Gossard single on the next play to tie it up. A four-pitch walk to the hot-hitting Matthews moved Gossard to second and Feliz took an 0-2 pitch down the left-field line for an RBI double to bring home Gossard and put the Scarlet Knights back on top, 8-7.

The Scarlet Knights would never look back this time, building their lead to 11-7 with a three-run eighth. Edwards drove in the first run when he took reliever Matt Heber's first offering to right field for an RBI single to chase the Bearcat hurler out of the contest. With two runners aboard, Gossard greeted new pitcher Evan Sanford with a two-run double down the left-field line to give the Scarlet Knights the four-run advantage.

Cincinnati loaded the bases in the bottom half of the eighth but reliever Kevin Lillis (Fair Haven, N.J.) was one pitch from getting out of the jam with a full count to Mike Spina. Spina drew the walk to bring in a run, but Lillis held the Bearcats to just the one score with an inning-ending flyout to right field. 

The Scarlet Knights tacked on two more runs in the ninth to make it 13-8 and Ryan Beard (Point Pleasant, N.J.), rebounded from a run in the bottom half of the frame with a game-ending strikeout of Campana to give RU the split.

Lillis improved to 4-1 with 2.1 innings of relief, while Adam Calez (2-2) was saddled with the loss after giving up the go-ahead runs in the seventh.

The victory helped ease the pain of a heart-breaking series opening loss in the first game of Saturday's double-header. Rutgers stormed out to a 10-3 lead on Cincinnati through seven innings in the opener, but the Bearcats rallied late and won it in extra innings.

Rutgers got its first runs when freshman Michael Lang (Dumont, N.J.) took the fourth pitch of the game over the right field wall for his first career home run. The Scarlet Knights built their lead to 6-0 with a two-out rally in the third to score five runs. Gossard stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and two outs in the frame and drove them both home with a triple off the top of the wall in center field. Matthews followed with a line-drive home run. Sophomore Jarred Jimenez (Monroe, N.J.) then took Cincinnati ace Dan Osterbrock's next offering off the fence in right field for a triple and Feliz capped the scoring in the inning with an RBI double down the left-field line.

Cincinnati pushed across its first run in similar fashion with a two-out rally in the bottom half of the third. The Bearcats got a single and walk to put runners on first and second against starter Matt Giannini (Millington, N.J.). The Scarlet Knight hurler was one pitch from getting out of the inning unscathed with a full count to Harrison. However, the Bearcat lined a ball to left field for a single to score a run. Cincinnati loaded the bases later in the frame but Giannini induced an inning-ending fielder's choice to prevent further damage.

The Bearcats loaded the bases again with two outs in the fourth and Scott cut Rutgers' lead in half with a two-run single to right field.

Leadoff singles from Gossard and Matthews set up two runs for the Scarlet Knights in the fifth as both runners were sacrificed over before Feliz plated both with a single to left field.

The Scarlet Knights tacked on another two-out run in the sixth when Gossard was hit by a pitch from newly-inserted Bearcat reliever Nick Johnson and Matthews took the payoff pitch off the wall in left field for an RBI double to make it 9-3

Cincinnati went to its bullpen again in the seventh and Feliz greeted new Bearcat hurler Brian Sand with a mammoth home run to right-center field to give RU the 10-3 advantage.

After seven strong innings from starter Matt Giannini (Millington, N.J.), who scattered 10 hits and let up just three runs with five strikeouts, the junior handed the ball over to Lillis in the eighth.

The Bearcats rallied for six runs in the bottom of the eighth off Lillis and reliever Ryan Beard (Point Pleasant, N.J.) to pull within just one score at 10-9. The big blow came in the form of a three-run home run from Satterwhite.

Cincinnati put a runner on in the bottom of the ninth on a single from Campana and the Bearcat stole second to move into scoring position. One out away from the victory, Beard got Harrison to hit a grounder to the shortstop where Betteridge fielded it but bobbled the exchange, allowing Campana to score the tying run on the play.

With men on second and third and two outs in the 10th, Chris Peters hit a weak chopper to the left side to bring home the winning score and complete the Bearcats' improbable comeback. 

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Scarlet Knights over the Bearcats. Reliever Jake Geglein (3-0) picked up the win with two solid innings of relief for Cincinnati, while Beard (1-4) took the loss. 

Rutgers and Cincinnati will conclude their series with a 1:00 p.m. game tomorrow. Sophomore righty Casey Gaynor (Toms River, N.J.) will be on the mound for the Scarlet Knights against lefty Brian Garman for the Bearcats.