FLEMINGTON, N.J. (February 28, 2017) –The Rutgers University-Newark baseball team improved to 3-1 on the season with a 5-3 win over Penn State University-Abington Tuesday afternoon at Diamond Nation in Flemington, N.J.
 
It was the first game in eight days for the Scarlet Raiders who took care of business against the Nittany Lions for the second time this season. Newark returns to the diamond Saturday at 1 p.m. against New York University at MCU Park in Brooklyn. PSU falls to 0-5 with the loss.
 
Sophomore starter Anthony Rosoline picked up the win, going five innings to move to 1-0 on the year. He scattered seven hits and allowed two runs (one earned), striking out two and walking one. Junior catcher Justin Marks was marvelous behind the plate, cutting down a two would-be base stealers in the first four innings of play, and three relievers did a nice job holding on to the lead.
 
PSU scored one run in the first thanks to a triple and infield single, and Newark answered with one in its half of the second inning. Freshman shortstop JC Ball drove in Marks with a well-struck single to center after Marks had walked and stole second.
 
Two errors and a Marks sacrifice fly staked Rutgers-Newark to a 2-1 edge after three innings of play, and two more tallies in the fourth gave the Scarlet Raiders a 4-1 lead. In that fourth, junior third baseman Brian Boulineau and senior left fielder Josh Cote each delivered run-scoring liners to center, with junior center fielder Anthony Perconte and junior DH Danny Iannaccone each picking up hits in the frame.
 
PSU pushed across an unearned marker in the top half of the fifth, and it did the same in the sixth to get within one at 4-3. The Lions nearly tied the game in the seventh, but a pretty running catch deep in the right field corner from junior Adam Tricarico kept the Scarlet Raiders on top.
 
Sophomore second baseman Ryan Zucker came through with a big-time two-out RBI hit in the bottom of the seventh, driving in Tricarico who was hit by a pitch and stole second earlier in the inning. An excellent at-bat from freshman pinch hitter Colin Powers allowed Zucker the chance to come through with the RBI hit.
 
Junior Dan Murphy threw two innings of relief, allowing an unearned run on a hit and two walks. Veteran hurler Chas Bohannon came on to toss a splendid eighth inning, holding the lead and handing the ball over to righty Luis Rojas who struck out two for his second save of the season.
 
"We missed Chas (Bohannon) and Luis (Rojas) last year due to major injuries, and they both threw the ball very well today and last weekend," said Head Coach Mark Rizzi after the win. "Both have command of their fastball, which makes their secondary pitches that much more effective. They are very competitive on the mound so they are thriving in their respective roles right now. With the return of those guys and Yanni Vayas, we are very comfortable with our bullpen.
 
Rutgers-Newark finished the game with 10 hits. Perconte went 2-for-4 with a walk, and Cote was 2-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and a walk. Boulineau, Halkias, Tricarico, Ball, Iannacconne and Zucker all had one hit a piece, with Boulineau, Marks, Ball and Zucker joining Cote with one RBI. The Raiders worked six walks in the contest as well.
 
PSU finished with eight hits and four walks in the game. Starter Don Halbruner went six innings, allowing eight hits and four runs (three earned). He walked four and struck out three in the loss (0-1).

Thief: Senior Josh Cote stole two bases Tuesday and now has five through four games this year. 
Hold on Tight: Despite the "hold" not being an official college statistic, Chas Bohannon and Dan Murphy each would have earned them Tuesday with final performances our of the pen.