Box Score

MERION STATION, Pa. - Rutgers baseball came through with a 6-4 road win Sunday at Smithson Field to complete a home-and-home sweep against Saint Joseph's. The Scarlet Knights finished the week at 3-0 and have now won five of their last six games.

RU improved to 14-16 on the season with six true road victories, while SJU dropped to 13-14. Rutgers previously won the opener of the two-game set, 11-1, Friday at Bainton Field.

Senior R.J. Devish (Beachwood, N.J.) sparked the offense once again with a 3-for-5 game, scoring twice to go with a career-high three stolen bases. Fifth-year senior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) and junior Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) each added a pair of hits, with Marcinczyk driving in two to up his season total to a team-high 26 RBIs.



On the mound, redshirt junior Kyle Driscoll (Toms River, N.J.) (3-3) won for the third time in four starts with two runs permitted over five innings. The right-hander tied his season-best total with seven strikeouts in the outing and retired nine of the last 10 batters faced. Junior Ryan Fleming (Churchville, Pa.) followed out of the bullpen with two scoreless frames to make it six consecutive appearances without surrendering an earned run. Following up, redshirt junior Max Herrmann (Rutherford, N.J.) recorded the final six outs, stranding the tying runs in scoring position with a strikeout in the bottom of the ninth. The trio combined to punch out a season-high 11 batters.

The Hawks jumped on top with a two-out, two-run double in the first, but the Scarlet Knights immediately responded in the next half inning to even the score. Marcinczyk led off with a single through the left side, with freshman Jawuan Harris (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and junior Christian Campbell (Sayreville, N.J.) then both reaching on error to load the bases with no outs. Next up, freshman Mike Martinez (West New York, N.J.) lofted a sacrifice fly to left to score Marcinczyk. Fifth-year senior John Jennings (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) then came up and laced an RBI single to make it 2-2.

After Driscoll struck out the side in the fourth, RU rallied for a run in the fifth to take a lead it would not relinquish. Devish roped a one-out single and stole second right away. Junior Mike Carter (Bloomfield, N.J.) then chopped an infield hit to put runners at the corners for Suseck, who contributed an RBI single through the middle.

In the seventh, Rutgers increased the lead to 6-2 with three runs. Junior Gaby Rosa (Perth Amboy, N.J.) singled up the middle to start and Devish followed with a bunt single for his third hit of the game. Carter followed and laid down a sacrifice bunt, but the Hawks misplayed the ball to allow Rosa to score and keep two on. A strikeout went down as the first out with a call to the bullpen after that. Marcinczyk greeted the new pitcher with a two-run double to the right field corner.

The Hawks brought the tying run to the plate with two outs in the seventh, but Fleming picked up his third strikeout to strand the bases loaded. In the eighth, Charlie Coghlin cut it to 6-4 with a two-out, pinch-hit homer for the hosts.

Then SJU rallied in the ninth to threaten the RU lead. After a leadoff walk, Carter made a sliding catch in left field for the first out, with a routine fly ball to Harris in center to bring the Scarlet Knights within one out of a victory. However, a double put the tying runs at second and third. Herrmann was up to the challenge in a 10-pitch at bat versus Brian Lau, breaking off a sharp slider to pick up a swinging strikeout to seal the win.

Lucas Rollins (0-3) suffered the loss for the hosts with a run permitted in relief. SJU used six different pitchers in the ballgame.

The Scarlet Knights will next return to the road to face Seton Hall Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the opener of a two-game midweek set. The teams will then face off Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Bainton Field.

NOTES
Rutgers improved to 38-10 all-time versus Saint Joseph's … the team is up to six true road wins this season, more than all of last year … the offense reached double-digit hits for the 11th time and stole at least five bases for the fourth time … RU has played 13 games this season decided by two runs or less … Rutgers is on a season-best three-game winning streak … the contest lasted two hours, 55 minutes.

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