Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Rutgers baseball fell on the short side of the rubber game against No. 16 Florida Atlantic with a 3-2 loss Sunday at FAU Baseball Stadium. The Owls claimed the series, as all three games were decided by one run. The last time RU played three consecutive one-run games against the same team was in 1991 versus Temple.

Sophomore John O'Reilly (Northvale, N.J.) highlighted the effort with one earned run surrendered over six innings on the mound. The right-hander struck out a season-high five in the 94-pitch outing. In two career performances against FAU, O'Reilly has permitted just one earned run in 10 innings pitched. Junior Christian Campbell (Sayreville, N.J.), who has worked back from an injury, followed out the bullpen to make his season debut and pitched two frames, including a perfect seventh with two strikeouts.

At the plate, fifth-year senior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) recorded his team-leading seventh multiple-hit game with a single and a double. Senior R.J. Devish (Beachwood, N.J.) increased his on-base percentage to .600, which leads the Big Ten, with two walks and a single in four turns.

The Scarlet Knights (6-8) also stole four bases in as many tries, reaching that total in a game for the fourth time this season. Freshman Jawuan Harris (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) logged his 10th, while Devish, junior Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) and freshman Mike Martinez (West New York, N.J.) all increased their totals. RU has taken 28 bases in 30 attempts in 2016, tops in the Big Ten.

FAU (13-2) took the lead in the second on a pair of hits, but RU quickly responded with two in the third. Harris used his speed to manufacture the first run, reaching on an infield single and stealing second. After Devish worked a walk, Suseck laid down a sacrifice bunt to put two in scoring position. A pitch in the next at bat skipped away from the catcher far enough to allow Harris to slide in safely. And then freshman Nick Matera (Roxbury, N.J.) gave the Scarlet Knights the lead with a sacrifice fly to right field.

The Owls would tie it up on a ball to the backstop in the third to make it 2-2. O'Reilly and FAU starter Marc Stewart dueled from there to keep it that way. However, Gunnar Lambert connected for a two-out RBI single off Campbell (0-1) in the eighth for the go-ahead score. Martinez singled in the ninth, but Rutgers was unable to push across a run versus Cameron Ragsdale, who earned his fifth save. Devon Carr (1-0) registered the win.

The Scarlet Knights will continue the Florida leg of their spring break trip with a two-game midweek series at Florida Gulf Coast. The set will start Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in Fort Myers, Fla.

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