MERION STATION, Pa. – Despite a late rally, the Saint Joseph's baseball team dropped a 6-4 result to Rutgers on a chilly Sunday afternoon at Smithson Field.
Trailing by two heading into the ninth, Deon Stafford, Jr., led off with a walk to bring the tying run to the plate in John Brue. Brue lofted a ball to left field that looked like it might drop, but Mike Carter made a sliding catch to prevent extra bases. After Matt Maul was retired on a fly ball to center, Charlie Concannon kept the game alive with a double to left that put the tying run on second for Brian Lau. Unfortunately for the Crimson and Gray, Lau went down swinging at the end of a 10-pitch at bat to end the ballgame.
Saint Joseph's (13-14) opened the game with a two-run first to take an early lead. Marc Giacalone led off the game with a walk before Maul drew a free pass of his own three batters later. Concannon followed with a double to right that scored both runs and gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead.
Rutgers (14-16) answered with two in the top half of the second. A single and a pair of errors in the infield left the bases loaded with nobody out for Mike Martinez, who hit a sacrifice fly to left to score RU's first run. John Jennings followed with a single to tie the game.
The Scarlet Knights went ahead in the fifth on an RBI single by Chris Suseck. Rutgers extended the lead in the seventh as Tom Marcinczyk's two-run double made it a 6-2 game.
Taylor Boyd then drew a two-out walk in the bottom of the eighth that allowed pinch hitter Charlie Coghlin to hit his first home run of the season to get the Hawks back within a pair, but Max Herrmann would avoid further damage in the ninth to finish off the game for Rutgers.
Kyle Driscoll (3-3) earned the win for the Scarlet Knights, allowing two runs on three hits and four walks while striking out seven in five innings. Lucas Rollins (0-3) took the loss for SJU, allowing one run on three hits and a walk while fanning three in three innings of relief.
Saint Joseph's kicks off a nine-game road stretch this week with games at Villanova and Monmouth. First pitch against the Wildcats is set for 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday.
