May 15, 2015 Box Score
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Rutgers baseball fell into an early hole and could not recover in a 10-3 loss to No. 13 Iowa Friday at Bainton Field. The series is now tied at one game apiece after RU won 5-3 Thursday.
Junior John Jennings (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) led the Scarlet Knights with a 3-for-3 afternoon at the plate, hitting two singles and a double. It was his first three-hit game since May 16, 2013 at USF. Senior Vinny Zarrillo (Forked River, N.J.) also contributed with two walks and a single. He now has 226 career hits, tied with Jake Daubert for eighth in the school record books.
On the mound, freshman John O'Reilly (Northvale, N.J.) (4-3) made his first career weekend start, but took the loss. Sophomore Kevin Baxter (Waterford, N.J.) provided four innings of long relief to keep RU within striking distance, allowing one run.
Blake Hickman (9-1) earned the win for the Hawkeyes with five shutout innings, while Nick Hibbing recorded the final 11 outs for his seventh save of the year. The Iowa bats collected 15 hits.
After each side went down scoreless in the first, UI (38-13, 19-4) broke through for six runs on eight hits in the second, including a three-run triple by Eric Toole. The Hawkeyes would tack on individual runs in both the third and fourth to expand to an 8-0 advantage.
Rutgers (18-35-1, 6-17) chipped back with three in the bottom of the sixth. Jennings laced a leadoff single to center and Zarrillo worked a walk to put two aboard. Following an out, sophomore Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) stepped up and delivered a two-run triple to get the Scarlet Knights on the board. Junior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) picked up an RBI single immediately after.
Baxter retired 11 of 12 at one point in his outing, but RU could not rally against Hibbing late. Iowa put up runs in the eighth and ninth to close the scoring.
The rubber game of the series is set for Saturday at 11 a.m. from Bainton Field and will be covered by BTN Plus. The program will recognize its three seniors prior to the contest: Joe D'Annunzio (Scotch Plains, N.J.), Jon Young (Old Bridge, N.J.) and Zarrillo.
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