Box Score

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - Junior Howie Brey (Middletown, N.J.) allowed just one earned run over six innings, but No. 9 Miami scored three in the eighth to defeat Rutgers baseball, 5-2, in the season opener Friday at Alex Rodriguez Park. The Scarlet Knights out-hit the Hurricanes, 10-7, in the ballgame.

Offensively, senior Joe D'Annunzio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) hit his first career home run and added a single, while sophomore Mike Carter (Bloomfield, N.J.) reached base three times with two singles and a hit by pitch. Sophomores Christian Campbell (Sayreville, N.J.) and Gaby Rosa (Perth Amboy, N.J.) both added two hits, as senior Vinny Zarrillo (Forked River, N.J.) produced an RBI.

Brey totaled a career-high nine strikeouts on the night, including striking out the side in the fifth inning. The left-hander scattered four hits and three walks in the 107-pitch outing.

Miami (1-0) opened the scoring in the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the first. After tripling with one out, Rickey Eusebio came around on a two-out error. However, D'Annunzio answered back with an opposite field homer to right to tie the score in the second.

After stranding runners in scoring position in both the third and fourth, Rutgers (0-1) broke through with a go-ahead run in the fifth. Carter singled to start and advanced to third on a single by junior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.), his first hit as a Scarlet Knight. Zarrillo next bounced a ball up the middle for an RBI fielder's choice, knocking in Carter. Following an out, Campbell smoked a double to the left field corner, but Miami executed a clean relay to get Zarrillo at the plate, keeping the score at 2-1.

The Hurricanes responded with a run on a RBI groundout by Johnny Ruiz to even the game at two in the sixth. After a scoreless seventh inning, Miami broke open the game with three runs on two hits, a walk and an error in the eighth. Ruiz had a two-run single that proved to be the difference.

Bryan Garcia earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning, while Cooper Hammond (1-0) was credited with the win. UM starter Andy Suarez, the 57th overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft, surrendered eight hits, two walks and two runs in a no-decision. RU sophomore Max Herrmann (Rutherford, N.J.) (0-1) suffered his first career defeat.

Rutgers continues its season-opening series at Miami with a day-night doubleheader on Saturday, starting at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Junior Mark McCoy (Barnegat, N.J.) and sophomore Kyle Driscoll (Toms River, N.J.) will each start a game for the Scarlet Knights.

NOTES
The Feb. 13 game marked the earliest game on the calendar in program history … Brey's nine strikeouts surpassed his previous best of five set at Jacksonville and versus USF last season … Rosa collected his first collegiate hits … D'Annunzio recorded the only stolen base in the game … the pitching staff allowed just two earned runs … RU left eight runners on base and seven in scoring position … the Scarlet Knights reached double-digit hits 26 times last season … the attendance was 2,628 and the game lasted 3:07 … the game-time temperature was 68 degrees.

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