TAMPA, Fla. – Rutgers dropped a 10-5 decision to USF in BIG EAST baseball action Sunday afternoon at McEwen Field in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls (13-7, 3-0) earned the series sweep of the Scarlet Knights (8-11, 0-3).

Rutgers used a two-out rally to plate a run in the first as Dan Betteridge (Sewell, N.J.) doubled down the left-field line and moved over to third on a fielding error where Pat Biserta (Point Pleasant, N.J.) drove him home on a single to the gap in left-center field.

USF evened it up on a bases-loaded walk by Ryan Lockwood with two outs in the second and took the lead with a run in the third on an RBI single down the left-field line from Chris Rey.

Senior Vinnie Sangemino (Nutley, N.J.) evened it back up for Rutgers with an RBI double down the right-field line to score Jarred Jimenez (Monroe, N.J.) in the fourth.

The Bulls put together four hits and capitalized on a Scarlet Knight error to re-capture the lead with a four-run fourth inning.

Rutgers got two of those runs right back when Luis Feliz (New Brunswick, N.J.) followed Jaren Matthews (Teaneck, N.J.) and Betteridge singles with a two-run double down the left-field line in the fifth to make it 6-4. 

USF got a run off newly-inserted reliever Sean Peterson (Wall, N.J.) in the sixth to extend its lead to three runs.

RU chipped into that lead with an RBI single from Brandon Boykin (Teaneck, N.J.) in the eighth, but USF countered with three runs in the bottom half of the frame off relievers Kevin Lillis (Fair Haven, N.J.) and Ryan Beard (Point Pleasant, N.J.) to make it 10-5.

Rutgers started Charlie Law (Mainland, N.J.) suffered the loss with four strikeouts and three earned runs (six total) on seven hits in five innings, while Matt Quevedo picked up the victory with three strikeouts and three runs on six hits in 5.1 innings of relief for the Bulls. Shawn Sanford recorded the save with a scoreless 1.2 innings.  

Rutgers returns home where it will remain in New Jersey for the next five games, traveling to Princeton and Rider on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, before hosting Cincinnati in the first weekend series at Bainton Field next weekend.