WHITTIER, CA – Whittier rallied with three unearned runs in the final two innings to down Rutgers-Newark, 9-8, in the California Invitational. 

Whittier 9, Rutgers-Newark 8

Senior third baseman Joe Furnaguera, who went five for five and scored twice, gave the Scarlet Raiders (4-7) a 7-3 lead with a 2-out solo home run in the top of the fourth. Furnaguera singled to lead off the seventh and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Palladino to push the Raider lead to 8-6. 

But infield errors allowed two runs to score against senior reliever Tom Abair in the eighth to knot the decision before senior closer Michael Hansen was only able to get one out against two walks and a hit in the bottom of the ninth. The winning run reached on an error. 

Rutgers-Newark got on the board first with a 2-out rally in the first. Junior shortstop Patrick Reitemeyer and senior designated hitter Anthony Yeswita drew walks ahead of an infield single by Furnaguera which loaded the bases for a 2-run double to right centerfield by senior first baseman Matt Lingo. 

In the second, consecutive 1-out singles by sophomore rightfielder Chris Ballester, Connors and junior leftfielder Michael Cassese loaded the bases before a Reitemeyer sacrifice fly to right was dropped to fuel a 4-run Raider outburst. Yeswita followed Reitemeyer with a 2-run single through the middle to make it 6-0. 

Freshman right-hander Michael Schneider went five full innings, allowing six runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out one before giving way to Abair's 3-inning stint. 

Poet third baseman Reed Tuttle, who scored the winning run in the ninth, sparked a 3-run third inning with a 2-RBI double before rightfielder Andrew Vallejo hammered a solo home run in the fourth to help get Whittier back into the game. 

Leftfielder Tyler Bogart and shortstop Corey Goodchild had back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth as the Poets trimmed the deficit to 7-6. 

Rutgers-Newark, which saw a 3-game winning streak snapped, plays its spring break and California Invitational final contest on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (EDT) at the University of La Verne.