Baseball Falls To Rutgers-Newark In Non-Conference Contest At Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium

3/25/2011 12:00:00 AM

NEWARK, N.J. (March 25, 2011) – Rutgers-Newark senior left-hander Billy Cerruti (Oceanport, N.J.) tossed nine innings of shutout baseball, surrendering just one hit, to lead the Scarlet Raiders past the Stevens Institute of Technology baseball team 6-0 at Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium in Newark, N.J. With the loss, the Ducks fell to 2-9 overall on the year, while Rutgers-Newark evened its record at 6-6 on the young season.

Having gone down in order in the first, Stevens starter junior Chris Tucci entered the bottom of the frame with hopes of holding down the Scarlet Raider attack. After hitting a batter to put the lead-off man on, Tucci bounced back, inducing a ground ball to short to get a much needed double-play en route to a clean inning.

Still scoreless in the top half of the third, Stevens put a pair on base, but Cerruti would pick-off both runners to keep the Ducks off the board. Still scoreless in the fourth, Rutgers-Newark strung together three runs to pull ahead.

Senior shortstop Patrick Reitemeyer (Kearny, N.J.) and junior Chris Ballester (Freehold, N.J.) got things started with consecutive hits, before fellow junior Tim Miller (Mendham, Mass.) ripped an RBI single to put the Scarlet Raiders on the board. Senior Michael Cassese (Belleville, N.J.) then promptly lined a bases-clearing triple into right field, staking the home team to a 3-0 edge.

Hoping to tack on more runs, Scarlet Raiders' freshman Jimmy Napolitano (Livingston, N.J.) led off the fifth with a double, before senior second baseman Matt Connors (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.) laid down an infield single to put a pair on board. Senior Michael DiCenso (Wayne, N.J.) then laced a single to left, scoring Napolitano, upping the margin to four, but Stevens' freshman shortstop Jose Arismendi fired the cut-off throw home to catch Connors. Later in the inning, Ballester drove-in Reitemeyer, who reached on a fielder's choice, to stake Rutgers-Newark to a 5-0 edge.

Continuing to go on the offensive, Rutgers-Newark added another run in the bottom of the seventh to go up 6-0. Connors led the inning off with a double before Ducks' reliever Kyle Hanas (Garland, Texas) induced a groundout to first and a pop-up to short. With two outs, Ballester hammered a tripled deep to centerfield, rolling to the wall, allowing Connors to come around, to close out scoring.

Stevens senior catcher Denis Ackermann went 1-for-2 on the day, notching the Ducks' lone hit. Reitemeyer finished 2-for-4 to lead Rutgers-Newark, while Ballester went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Miller added a pair of hits, while Cassese finished with two RBI.
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