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Piscataway (May 9, 2014) – The USF bats were kept off-balance Friday afternoon picking up just four hits in a 3-1 loss to Rutgers in an American Athletic Conference matchup at Bainton Field.
USF now stands at 25-24 on the year and 10-12 in The American while Rutgers improves to 25-22 overall and 10-8 in league play.
Rutgers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after an inning of play as Mike Carter got the RU offense going with a single and advanced to third on a hard hit ball by Brian O'Grady that scooted up the right field line. Carter scored the first run of the game on a passed ball.
The Scarlet Knights tacked on to their lead in the third on a Pat Sweeney two-out single into centerfield. R.J. Devish knocked home the game's final run on a single to right field in the sixth.
USF had chances in the ballgame to do some damage but were unable to get a key hit. With two outs and a runner on first in the third, Austin Lueck drew a walk and Kyle Teaf was hit by a pitch to load the bases but a fly out ended the threat.
Andres Leal singled with one out in the seventh followed by a Levi Borders double down the leftfield line to put two runners in scoring position with just one out. Zac Gilcrease brought home the only run of the game for USF on a RBI groundout to the shortstop.
The Bulls again had two runners on in the ninth inning but couldn't complete the comeback.
Jimmy Herget suffered the loss evening his mark to 6-6 on the year. He allowed all three runs, only one of which was earned, over five innings of work. The right-hander allowed nine hits while striking out four. Lawrence Pardo threw three innings of shutout ball in relief. Daniel Portales, Leal, Levi Borders and Gilcrease each had one hit for USF.
Howie Brey improved to 5-2 with a complete game four-hitter. He retired the first six batters of the game and at one point retired 11 straight batters. Brey walked two while punching out five. Offensively, Tom Marcinczyk had the lone multi-hit performance going 2-for-4.
USF and Rutgers will continue their conference series tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Bainton Field.
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