PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (February 26, 2011) – The Rutgers baseball team used a pair of strong pitching performances and combined for 14 runs on the afternoon to sweep a doubleheader from Michigan Saturday at Tradition Field, inside the New York Mets spring training complex, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. RU won the opening contest, 9-4, and the nightcap, 5-2.
With the pair of victories, the Scarlet Knights (4-2) swept the three-game series from the Wolverines (0-6).
Junior Nathaniel Roe (Plainfield, N.J.) surrendered just one earned run in eight innings with three strikeouts to earn the win in the second game to complete an all-around strong performance on the mound for the Scarlet Knights on the day.
In the nightcap, Rutgers countered a first-inning run by Michigan with a score of its own in the third on a two-out RBI single back up the middle from Michael Lang (Dumont, N.J.).
Michigan’s John Lorenz doubled to lead off the fifth and came around to score later in the frame to put the Wolverines back on top by a run.
The lead was short-lived as Lang found a whole in the right side for a one-out single and two plays later came around to score on a Steve Nyisztor (Toms River, N.J.) single to right field to tie it back up.
Senior Brandon Boykin (Teaneck, N.J.) doubled to left field and Lang followed with a single to left field to put a pair of runners on with one out in the eighth. Freshman Brian O’Grady (Warminster, Pa.) put Rutgers up for the first time in the contest with a sacrifice fly to bring Boykin home and give RU a 3-2 advantage.
Freshman Michael Zavala (Randolph, N.J.) gave the Scarlet Knights some breathing room with a two-run home run – the first of his career – in the ninth inning to build the RU advantage to 5-2.
Sophomore Jerry Elsing (Montville, N.J.) made his second relief appearance of the afternoon in the bottom of the ninth as Roe completed his stellar eight-inning outing. Elsing worked a scoreless frame in the ninth to seal the Scarlet Knight victory and the series sweep.
In the opener, sophomore Jeff Melillo (Annandale, N.J.) collected two hits and drove in three runs, while fellow sophomore Rob Smorol (Clark, N.J.) struck out three in six innings to guide RU to the win.
Rutgers scored three runs in the first and never looked back en route to the win over UM.
RU used a two-out rally in the opening frame, putting a pair of runners on thanks to a hit and an error. Sophomore Bill Hoermann (Toms River, N.J.) singled home the first run and Melillo doubled home two more runs to give the Scarlet Knights an early 3-0 lead.
Michigan pushed across a run in the third, but RU came right back with four runs in the sixth to open a 7-1 advantage. The Scarlet Knights loaded the bases without recording an out in the frame and Melillo delivered again, singling home his third run of the contest to chase Michigan starter Tyler Mills out of the game. RU got three more scores on a pair of wild pitches from reliever Brandon Sinnery and a sacrifice fly from Lang.
The Wolverines countered with three runs in the bottom half of the sixth as they capitalized on a pair of RU infield miscues, but UM would not get any closer as relievers Dan O’Neill (Garfield, N.J.) and Elsingcombined for three shutout innings to seal the win.
The Scarlet Knights extended their lead to 9-4 with two runs in the top of the ninth to cruise to the victory.
Smorol (1-0) recorded three strikeouts and allowed just two earned runs on seven hits in six innings of work to earn the victory in his second collegiate start for Rutgers, while Mills (0-1) was saddled with the loss after allowing seven runs (four earned) on seven hits in five innings for Michigan.
The Scarlet Knights will return south next weekend, traveling to Atlanta, Ga. for a three-game series with Georgia Tech, beginning Friday at 4 p.m.
