St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Rutgers
St. John's Drops Series Finale At Rutgers, 3-1
5/22/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 22, 2010
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - St. John's was held scoreless for the final seven innings and fell to Rutgers, 3-1, in the regular season finale. Jimmy Brennan was 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead St. John's (36-18, 16-11). Scott Ferrara was 1-for-4 with a triple, while Greg Hopkins was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Dan O'Neill (3-2) allowed just one run in 6.0 innings to earn the win, while Jaren Matthews was 2-for-4 with an RBI to pace Rutgers (28-24, 15-12).
Rutgers took the early lead with a pair of runs in the first inning. After Michael Lang was plunked to lead off the frame, a Pat Biserta single set up runners on the corners with no outs. Steve Nyisztor followed with an RBI groundout before Matthews added an RBI double to give the Scarlet Knights a 2-0 lead.
St. John's quickly responded with a run in the third. Hopkins led off with a single and moved to third on a one-out single by Paul Karmas. Brennan then followed with an RBI single into left field as the Red Storm trailed 2-1.
Starter Matt Carasiti (6-4) retired five-straight and seven of eight before being relieved by Nick Cenatiempo to open the fourth inning. Cenatiempo worked a scoreless fourth, but allowed both a single and a walk with two outs in the fifth and Anthony Cervone took the mound to retire the final batter.
After being held scoreless for four innings, Rutgers plated a run to take a 3-1 lead in the sixth. Jayson Hernandez was plunked to lead off the frame and moved up to second on sacrifice bunt. Hernandez advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a Dan Betteridge RBI single. Following a fielder's choice that erased the lead runner, Jose Rodriguez entered to get the final out of the inning.
St. John's threatened in the eighth, but was kept off the board. Ferrara tripled with one out into the right field corner before Joe Panik drew a two-out walk. Rutgers, however, brought in closer Tyler Gebler to end the inning and strand two runners on base.
St. John's, the No. 4 seed in the BIG EAST Tournament, will take on fifth-seeded USF at 5 p.m. on May 26 in the opening round.
