NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark came up on the short end of a slugfest for the second time in as many games, falling to Montclair State, 13-10, to be eliminated from the New Jersey Athletic Conference Baseball Championship Tournament.
Montclair State 13, Rutgers-Newark 10
Junior centerfielder
Michael DiCenso went four for five to pace a 16-hit Scarlet Raider assault, but the Red Hawks (21-16) collected seven doubles and a home run among their 15 hits while scoring eight unearned runs following three Rutgers-Newark errors to advance to Saturday’s third round in the six-team, double-elimination playoff.
The Raiders (22-20) will wait until Monday afternoon to hear from the selection committee about the field for the ECAC Metro Championship. Rutgers-Newark is a probable high seed for the playoff which begins on Wednesday.
Rutgers-Newark held a 9-7 lead after six innings with junior righthander
Ryan Williams pitching through a rough start to be in line for the victory. Only three of the seven runs that he yielded were earned as he gave up eight hits while striking out six and walking just one.
But in a repeat of Tuesday’s 11-9 opening-round loss to The College of New Jersey, the bullpen could not hold onto a late lead. Freshman reliever
Matt Larangera had two outs with two men on due to an infield error and a walk before junior centerfielder Michael Boggi and pinch hitter Michael Ercolano came up with back-to-back doubles as the Red Hawks took the lead. A single to rightfield by junior second baseman Andrew Himmelfarb made it 11-9, Red Hawks.
A two-run home run over the leftfield wall by sophomore catcher
Anthony Palladino capped a six-run first inning for the Raiders which answered a two-run start by the Red Hawks. But a throwing error opened up the flood gates for four MSU runs in the top of the second to level the score. All four Red Hawk runs were unearned – including the rally-ending solo home run by senior rightfielder Scott Evangelist.
Senior leftfielder
Anthony Yeswita’s second double of the game started a three-run rally in the fifth which staked the Raiders to a 9-7 edge. After a through-the-legs fielding error put senior third baseman
Joe Furnaguera aboard and brought home Yeswita, junior shortstop
Michael Cassese greeted senior reliever William Traverso with a two-run homer to left.
But the only Raider run after that was on a solo home run by Furnaguera to start the seventh inning when the Rutgers-Newark left the bases loaded to finish the frame. Closer Jack McDonough coaxed a checked swing grounder back to the mound to kill the rally before earning a save by shutting out the Raiders on just one hit during the final two innings.
Furnaguera , who also had an RBI double in the first inning, scored three times for the Raiders while Cassese and Palladino each added a single to their home runs.
Although it did not directly impact the final score, junior
Patrick Reitemeyer started his first game as the Raiders’ designated hitter – breaking a string of 117 consecutive games in which Reitemeyer has started at shortstop in tandem with junior second baseman
Matt Connors. Reitemeyer, the 2010 All-NJAC first team shortstop, did not play in the field because of nagging shoulder problems while Connors made it 118 straight starts in his normal slot.