PISCATAWAY, N.J. (April 5, 2011) – The Rutgers baseball team was victimized by five errors over the final four innings in an 11-8 loss to Princeton Tuesday afternoon at Bainton Field in Piscataway. The Tigers (10-13) broke a 6-6 tie with five runs over the final two innings to surge past the Scarlet Knights (10-13) and claim the win.
In his third career start, freshman outfielder Joe D’Annunzio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) collected three hits and drove in two runs while he scored two more to lead the Scarlet Knights offensively in the contest.
D’Annunzio put Rutgers on the board first with an RBI single to the gap in left-center field in the second inning. RU got two more runs in the second frame thanks to a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from Brian O’Grady (Warminster, Pa.).
Rutgers starter Willie Beard (Spotswood, N.J.) opened with two scoreless frames but ran into trouble in the third after Princeton opened the inning with four-straight singles and eventually pushed across three runs in the frame to tie the game up.
The Scarlet Knights went back on top one inning later as D’Annunzio delivered again for RU. With sophomore Jeff Melillo (Annandale, N.J.) on first via a leadoff walk, D’Annunzio worked a 0-2 count full and then took the sixth pitch of the at-bat to the gap in right-center field for an RBI triple. O’Grady followed two batters later with an RBI single to right field to plate D’Annunzio and give Rutgers a 5-3 advantage.
With the two-run cushion, Beard handed the ball over to his bullpen in the sixth with freshman Joe Esposito (Metuchen, N.J.) coming in for the Scarlet Knights. The Tigers opened the frame with a single and a double to put runners on the corners and capitalized on three-consecutive Rutgers infield errors to score three runs in the frame and surge past the Scarlet Knights, 6-5. Sophomore Dan O’Neill (Garfield, N.J.) came in to finish the inning for RU on the mound.
The Tigers advantage didn’t last for long, however, as freshman Nick Favatella (Washington Twp., N.J.) doubled down the line in left to lead off the seventh and two outs later junior Russ Hopkins (Piscataway, N.J.) took Princeton reliever A.J. Goetz’s 1-2 offering to left field for an RBI single to tie the game at 6-6.
Two more infield errors for the Scarlet Knights were followed by a pair of hits for the Tigers in the eighth to produce four runs as Princeton took a 10-6 lead. The Tigers added a run in the ninth to extend the advantage to 11-6.
RU put a pair of runners on to open the ninth and both moved into scoring position on a wild pitch where Melillo drove both runners home with a double to the gap in left-center field. The Scarlet Knights’ ninth-inning rally fell short, however, as Princeton reliever Ryan Makis rebounded with a groundout and fly out to end the game as the Tigers escaped with the win in Piscataway.
O’Neill (1-1) was charged with the loss for RU despite not allowing an earned run in 2.2 innings of relief, while Goetz (2-1) earned the win with four innings of one-run relief for Princeton.
Rutgers will close its nine-game homestand with a 3:30 p.m. game against Columbia Wednesday at Bainton Field.
