Highlights

NEWARK, N.J. (April 17, 2017) – Playing for the first time in its home town, the Rutgers University-Newark baseball team did not disappoint, cruising to an 11-2 non-conference win over Baruch College Monday afternoon at Riverfront Stadium.
 
The Scarlet Raiders took the lead in the first inning and never let go, improving to 19-7-1 on the season. Baruch falls to 11-13 with the loss.
 
Rutgers-Newark scored three times in the first and one more marker in the second to open a 4-0 edge for freshman starting pitcher Jason Palmeri who was splendid.
 
In the first, junior catcher Justin Marks doubled with one out and came around to score on single from senior left fielder Josh Cote, and junior third baseman Brian Boulineau drove in a pair with double in the left-center field gap.
 
Junior center fielder Anthony Perconte delivered an RBI single to center to stake the Raiders to a 4-0 lead in the second, but Baruch sliced the advantage in half thanks to a two-run homer off the bat junior Edwin St. Hilaire in the top half of the fourth inning.
 
The Scarlet Raiders made a two-run lead three with a single score in the fifth as freshman second baseman Tommy Scanlon drove in junior first baseman Ross Halkias with a two-out opposite-field single. It was the first career hit and RBI for Scanlon.
 
Palmeri was fantastic in his second career appearance, going six strong innings and limiting the Bearcats to two runs on five hits. The rookie struck out six and pocketed the first win of his career (1-0).
 
Rutgers-Newark padded its lead in the seventh, getting a two-run single from freshman designated hitter Colin Powers as part of the three-run frame, and the Scarlet Raiders pushed across three more in the eighth. Halkias plated two with a single, and freshman second baseman JC Ball drove in the other with a double down the left-field line.
 
The Scarlet Raiders scored their 11 runs on 10 hits as two players had two hits apiece. Perconte went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI and Halkias was 2-for-3 with two walks, three runs and two RBI. Boulineau finished 1-for-3 with two RBI, two walks and two runs, Powers had a hit and two RBI, and Ball, Scanlon, Cote and Marks all had one hit and one RBI.
 
Junior Yanni Vayas picked up his second save of the year with three excellent innings in relief of Palmeri. The hard-throwing righty did not allow a hit or a run, walking one and striking out two.
 
What's next? Rutgers-Newark will return to the diamond at Riverfront Stadium Wednesday afternoon with a non-conference tilt against DeSales University. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.

Raising the Bar...: Rutgers-Newark has surpassed its win total from 2016 by four wins with 13 contests left on the schedule.