Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Junior Howie Brey (Middletown, N.J.) pitched seven strong innings to lead Rutgers baseball to its first Big Ten win, 4-1, over Purdue Saturday at Alexander Field. With the victory, the Scarlet Knights evened the three-game series against the Boilermakers.

"The first Big Ten win means a lot to Rutgers University and the baseball program dating back way before I have been here," head coach Joe Litterio said. "This is a move in the right direction. Howie Brey was there for us today. We have been playing better ball, but Howie came in and put the team on his shoulders to give us a chance to win. I am proud of the team."

Making his fifth start of the season, Brey (1-3) did not allow a hit until the fourth and permitted just three on the day. The left-hander displayed a mixture of speeds and struck out five in the 125-pitch outing. His seven frames were the most by a Scarlet Knight pitcher this season. Freshman John O'Reilly (Northvale, N.J.) followed in relief and closed the final two innings to pick up his first save.

Offensively, RU reached double-digit hits for the second consecutive day with 10. Sophomore Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) continued his hot road trip with two singles and a walk, scoring twice, to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Senior Joe D'Annunzio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and junior John Jennings (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) also both recorded multiple-hit afternoons.

After each side went down scoreless in the first three innings, Rutgers (4-14, 1-1) broke through with a run in the fourth. Marcinczyk beat the shift with a single the other way and came home immediately on a misplayed bunt laid down by senior Vinny Zarrillo (Forked River, N.J.). Zarrillo pushed a well-placed ball out towards third base and the Purdue catcher fielded and threw errant to first, as Marcinczyk steamed all the way around after a rundown took place between first and second. However, Purdue (9-12, 1-1) collected its first hit on misplayed ball in the outfield and followed with a single to tie the score in the fourth.

The game did not stay tied for long as RU responded with two runs on three hits in the fifth. Junior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) started the go-ahead rally with a one-out double to the right field corner and moved up to third on single by Jennings. Next up, sophomore Mike Carter (Bloomfield, N.J.) delivered a lined RBI single to center to give the Scarlet Knights the lead, moving Jennings to third. D'Annunzio plated Jennings on a sacrifice fly to center.

Brey ran into trouble in the seventh when the Boilermakers singled and had a batter drilled with one down. Litterio then visited the mound and elected to keep Brey in the game. The junior next induced a fly out for the second out, but hit another batter to load the bases. With the pressure on, Brey worked ahead in the count and freshman Milo Freeman (Millburn, N.J.) scooped a grounder out of the dirt and stepped on third base for the inning-ending force.

The Scarlet Knights scored another unearned run in the eighth for insurance. Marcinczyk singled with two outs and Zarrillo walked to bring up sophomore Christian Campbell (Sayreville, N.J.). He grounded a ball up the middle that was booted far enough away to allow Marcinczyk to come home.

O'Reilly surrendered a single in both in the eighth and ninth, but worked around to seal the victory. The final out was recorded on a groundout fielded by Suseck at second base.

Brett Haan (1-4) suffered the loss for Purdue, who dropped its first home game of the season in three outings.

The rubber match of the opening Big Ten series is set for Sunday at noon at Alexander Field. Sophomore Gaby Rosa (Perth Amboy, N.J.) is set to make his first start on the mound since the opening weekend of the season.

NOTES
It was the first Big Ten win for the Rutgers baseball program ... the offense is now 4-2 this season when recording at least 10 hits ... Saturday was the seventh game of the spring break trip ... Marcinczyk is now hitting 15-for-28 (.536) on the trip with six runs and has notched two hits or more in four of the last five games ... the defense was not charged with an error for the third consecutive game ... it was the fourth career start Brey logged at least six innings and allowed three or less hits ... O'Reilly has either won or earned a save in three of the Scarlet Knights' four wins this year ... D'Annunzio stole his team-leading sixth base ... the game lasted two hours, 20 minutes and the attendance was listed at 745.

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