Highlights

NEWARK, N.J. (April 19, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark baseball team continued to roll, topping perennial power DeSales University by a 5-4 score Wednesday afternoon at Riverfront Stadium.
 
With the win, the Scarlet Raiders improve to 20-7-1 overall and will host New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) rival Kean University Thursday in Newark. DeSales drops to 15-12 with the loss.

"This was a blue-collar win today," said Head Coach Mark Rizzi after the game. "We didn't have much energy, but we capitalized on some walks early and got the few key hits we needed."
 
The Bulldogs would take a brief 1-0 lead after the top half of the first, but the Scarlet Raiders answered with four runs in the bottom half of the inning and one more in the second.
 
Sophomore shortstop Ryan Zucker led off with a walk and eventually scored on a wild pitch, and freshman first baseman Connor Clare drove in senior left fielder Josh Cote (BB) and junior center fielder Anthony Perconte (BB) with a two-run single to center. Freshman designated hitter Colin Powers tallied the final RBI of the first inning, bringing home junior third baseman Brian Boulineau with a groundout.
 
Junior catcher Justin Marks put the Scarlet Raiders on top 5-1 with a sacrifice fly to left in the bottom of the second to bring in freshman second baseman JC Ball who walked and stole a base earlier in the inning.
 
The two offenses would stay quite over the next several innings, but DeSales chipped away with a single tally in the fifth and two more in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-4.
 
Scarlet Raider freshman starting pitcher Brandon Terrizzi went 4.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Senior Vincent Enea went 2.2 frames, allowing four hits and two runs on what was a very cold and extremely blustery day at Riverfront Stadium.
 
Senior Chas Bohannon came on in the eighth and after a one-out infield single, Marks cut down center fielder Tommy DePaul trying steal, and Bohannon kept his team on top 5-4. In the ninth, Bohannon worked around a two-out walk, striking out Pat Rhoads for the final out which clinched a very-impressive second save the season.
 
Rutgers-Newark was led by Cote who went 3-for-3 with a run scored and a walk. Clare was 1-for-3 with two RBI and Zucker was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. The Scarlet Raiders totaled five hits and five runs in the contest, also working seven walks from seven different players. Newark also totaled three steals – one each from Zucker, Clare and Ball – and two hit batters.
 
Enea earned the win in relief, moving to 1-1 on the season, and Terrizzi gave the Raiders a gutty 4.1 innings in tough conditions.

"Our pitching was good enough to win today," added Rizzi. "Brandon pitched well in his first career start, and both Vinny (Enea) and Chas (Bohannon) did a nice job out of the bullpen."
 
Rutgers and Kean will get underway at Riverfront Stadium with a 3 p.m. first pitch, and fans can follow all the action live at www.sidearmstats.com/rutgers/baseball.