MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (March 17, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark baseball team improved to a sparkling 8-3 on the season with a pair of big wins over Alfred State College Friday in South Carolina.
Rutgers-Newark won the opener 18-8, and rolled 19-5 in the night cap. The same two teams will battle it out Saturday starting at 9 a.m. The two games will represent the final contests of R-N's Spring Break trip in Myrtle Beach.
Rutgers-Newark 18, Alfred St. 8
The Rutgers-Newark offense came out blazing, getting a three-run homer from junior
Anthony Perconte in the top half of the first inning for a 3-0 lead. The next batter – freshman
Colin Powers – walked, and junior
Justin Marks tripled down the right-field line for the fourth R-N score of the inning. Perconte's homer and Marks' triple both were season-firsts for the R-N juniors.
Newark took an 11-0 lead after two innings of play, scoring six runs on just three hits in the second. Sophomore
Ryan Zucker had a two-run single in the frame, with junior
Brian Boulineau and Powers pocketing RBI walks. Freshman
JC Ball walked, stole second and scored on a wild pitch, and both senior
Josh Cote and junior
Ross Halkias had singles.
Alfred State plated a single run in the second and four runs on four hits in the third to make it an 11-5 game.
Cote smashed his first home run of the season to lead off a fifth inning that saw the Scarlet Raiders score seven times. Perconte, junior
Adam Tricarico and Zucker each had RBI triples, and Boulineau notched a run-scoring single to give the Raiders an 18-5 lead.
Scarlet Raider starter
Mike Zibrin picked up the win, going five innings. He struck out six, walked none and was charged with seven runs. Senior
Vincent Enea tossed the final two innings, allowing just one run on one hit.
Perconte led the offense, going 2-for-2 with four RBI, three runs scored and two walks. Zucker was 3-for-5 with three RBI and a run scored, and Cote went 2-for-4 with two RBI and three runs. Halkias was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and Marks was 1-for-3 with an RBI, three runs and two walks as the Scarlet Raiders totaled 12 hits, 12 free passes and 14 RBI in the game. Newark also tallied four triples and two homers.
Rutgers-Newark 19, Alfred St. 5
The Scarlet Raiders took a 6-0 lead after two, and after three runs crossed for ASC (1-12), Newark scored four in the fourth and nine in the fifth to all-but lock up the team's fifth-straight win.
Freshman
Vincent Conti started for the Scarlet Raiders, going five innings with five strikeouts. He scattered seven hits, gave up three runs and walked just one to pick up his first career win in his first career appearance.
Cote singled home the game's first run, and a two-run double for Zucker in the second had the Scarlet Raiders off and running. Perconte picked up his fifth and sixth RBI of the day with a single, later scoring the final marker of the inning via a throwing error.
Perconte kept his monster day going, driving in two runs with a single in the fourth, and freshman
Connor Clare drove in two with a double later in the frame. Clare smacked a double to clear the bases in the fifth, and Zucker tallied another hit as well – this one being a two-run double.
Junior
Luis Rojas came on in relief for the final two innings, allowing two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts.
Rutgers-Newark finished with 14 hits, six walks and 17 RBI as a team. Zucker went an incredible 5-for-5 with four runs and four RBI, and Clare was 3-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored. Perconte went 2-for-4 with three runs and five RBI, and Boulineau went 1-for-1 with an RBI, three walks and four runs scored.
Note: Both games were seven innings.
Note: Ryan Zucker went 8-for-10 with seven RBI and five runs scored.
Note: Anthony Perconte went 4-for-6 with nine RBI and six runs scored.
