TAMPA, Fla. (April 9, 2011) – The Rutgers baseball team erupted for seven runs over the first five innings and never looked back en route to an 11-6 victory over South Florida Saturday night at USF Baseball Stadium. With the win, the Scarlet Knights (12-17, 4-4 BIG EAST) evened up the series against the Bulls (14-16, 4-4 BIG EAST).
The 11 runs were the third-most overall and the most in a league game this season for the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers exploded for four runs in the first inning to surge out to an early lead. Junior Russ Hopkins (Piscataway, N.J.) came up with the bases loaded and cleared them with a three-run triple to the gap in right-center field. Sophomore Steve Zavala (Randolph, N.J.) followed with a double to the gap in left-center field to plate Hopkins to complete the four-run frame.
The Scarlet Knights put runners on the corners with two outs in the fourth and senior Brandon Boykin (Teaneck, N.J.) took USF starter Kyle Eastham’s first offering to the gap in left-center field to bring both runners home and give RU a 6-0 lead.
Rutgers continued to add to its lead with a run in the fifth as senior Michael Lang (Dumont, N.J.) led off the frame with a double and came around to score on a sacrifice fly later in the inning to build the RU advantage to 7-0.
Meanwhile, Rutgers starter Rob Smorol (Clark, N.J.) continued to tame the Bulls with four scoreless frames to open the contest. He did not surrender a hit until the third inning.
USF finally got on the board in the fifth as Todd Brazael drove a pair of runs home on a double to the gap in right-center field.
The Scarlet Knights added a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh as RU opened a 10-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh frame.
USF plated three runs in the bottom half of the seventh to make it 10-5, but that was as close as the Bulls would get as the teams traded runs in the eighth with senior D.J. Anderson (Randolph, N.J.) connecting on his first home run of the season in the frame.
Smorol handed the ball over to junior Willie Beard (Spotswood, N.J.) in the eighth and the Scarlet Knight finished off the game for RU.
Smorol (2-4) picked up the win with five strikeouts and five runs allowed in seven innings of work for RU. Eastham (3-3) was tagged with the loss with seven runs surrendered on eight hits in five innings of work for the Bulls.
Rutgers and USF will meet in the rubber game Sunday at 1 p.m. Junior righty Nathaniel Roe (Plainfield, N.J.) will be on the mound for the Scarlet Knights.
