UNION, N.J. (April 11, 2015) – Kean University defeated Rutgers-Newark in a pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) baseball games Saturday. The games were originally slated to be played at Riverfront Stadium in Newark but had to be moved to Jim Hynes Stadium in Union due to unplayable field conditions.
The Cougars took game one 11-7 and won the nightcap by a score of 7-3. Rutgers-Newark drops to 9-18 overall and 0-10 in the NJAC, while Kean improves to 8-2 in the conference and 24-6 overall.
Game 1Kean scored two in the first as it played both games as the visitor despite things taking place in Union. Rutgers-Newark found its way on the scoreboard with a single tally in the second as junior right fielder
Cameron Dias singled to left, senior third baseman
Nick Gencarelli followed with a single and DH
Ryan MacFarlane advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. After a flyout, Dias was able to score on a passed ball to cut the Cougar lead in half.
Kean went on top 6-1 after three, scoring four runs on five hits and two errors, adding another run on four hits in the fourth.
Trailing by six, Rutgers-Newark pushed across two in the fourth. MacFarlane led off with a walk and stole second base, scoring when sophomore second baseman
Jeff Reinecke drove him in with an RBI single to left center. Reinecke advanced to second on the throw home, and scored on a single to right center from junior
Billy Taylor.
Two runs from Kean in the fifth extended its lead back to six, with a homer from sophomore first baseman
Chas Bohannon accounting for the fourth R-N marker of the opener.
The Cougars added a pair of insurance runs in their half of the ninth, but Rutgers-Newark fought until the end, getting three runs in the final at-bat for an 11-7 final. Bohannon reached on an error and Reinecke was hit by a pitch. Freshman left fielder
Danny Iannaccone tripled to left center, driving in two, and freshman backstop
Justin Marks hit a sacrifice fly.
Rutgers-Newark banged out seven hits and drew six walks. Iannaccone had two runs batted in, with Taylor going 1-for-3 with two walks and an RBI. No Scarlet Raider had more than one hit, but both Bohannon and Reinecke scored two runs.
Kean was able to scatter 17 hits against Scarlet Raider pitching, getting a 6-for-6 performance from junior Matt Meleo as the top four hitters in the Cougar lineup had multiple game-one hits.
Game 2Five runs crossed the plate for the Cougars in the first inning with the first four coming on extra-base hits – two doubles and two triples.
Facing an early hole, Rutgers-Newark again tried to come back, this time scoring three runs in the third inning. Iannaccone led off with a bunt single and Taylor backed him up with a walk. Junior
Gerry Patrizio advanced both runners with a ground out, and Dias drove in a pair with a single to center field. Gencarelli followed with a single to put two runners on and Bohannon delivered another run-scoring hit – this time a single for the third run of the inning.
Unfortunately for Rutgers-Newark, those three tallies would be it for game two. Gencarelli singled in the sixth, and the Scarlet Raiders brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh after Taylor and Marks singled, but they could not find the clutch hit needed to get closer.
MacFarlane started the second game for Newark, scattering nine hits over 7.0 innings. He was charged with six runs and took the loss (0-1). Sophomore Richie Ferguson came on in relief for Kean, going the final 6.1 to pick up the win, striking out seven.
The Scarlet Raiders had eight hits in the second game, getting two from Gencarelli. Dias was 1-for-4 with a run and two RBI's and Reinecke tripled.
Rutgers-Newark was slated to visit Franklin and Marshall College Sunday but that game has been postponed. Next up for the Scarlet Raiders is a non-conference home contest against Alvernia University on Tuesday, April 14.
