NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark senior lefthander Billy Cerruti became the school's career strikeout leader in style, hurling a one-hit complete-game shutout in a 6-0 win over Stevens in the Scarlet Raiders' first home game in Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

BOX SCORE & PLAY-BY-PLAY

Cerruti struck out an even dozen to push his career strikeout total to 153 – 11 better than Jesus Torres' mark of 142. He allowed only a clean two-out single to centerfield by senior catcher Denis Ackermann in the fourth while facing just two batters beyond the minimum of 27 while striking out a dozen.

He walked four and hit one batter, but the R-N career leading in pick offs caught three runners taking too much of a lead and sophomore Christian Kasa threw out another runner at second on a steal attempt to give the Ducks (2-9) just two runners left on base. On the season, he has picked off five while pushing his career total to 20.

It was Cerruti's first career shutout and his 12 strikeouts were just one short of the 13 he posted against Scranton in a 2-1 loss last spring.

In the crisply played game which lasted exactly two hours, junior first baseman Chris Ballester led the Raiders' 12-hit attack by going three for four with an RBI single in the two run fifth and an RBI triple to straightaway centerfield in the seventh to end the scoring.

In the fourth inning, senior shortstop Patrick Reitemeyer, Ballester and junior third baseman Tim Miller delivered consecutive singles with one away in the fourth to produce the only run needed before senior rightfielder Michael Cassese hammered a two-run triple over the rightfielder's head to make it 3-0.

Freshman leftfielder Jimmy Napolitano led off the fifth with a double off the leftfield wall and scored on a single to left centerfield by senior centerfielder Michael DiCenso. Ballester's two-out single to center capped the two-run inning.

The Raider staff posted its second straight complete shutout. Junior righthander Connor Medler blanked Occidental, 4-0, on four hits in California on March 19.

Rutgers-Newark hosts Wesleyan University in a noon doubleheader at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium on Saturday.