Rutgers baseball trying to rediscover its winning ways
BY DOUG McKENZIE Staff Writer
The Rutgers University baseball team that will roll into West Long Branch today to take on the host Monmouth University Hawks is a team struggling to regain the swagger it's displayed over the past several seasons.

After consistently being among the elite teams in the Big East Conference in recent years, head coach Fred Hill's Scarlet Knights have been inconsistent in nearly every facet of the game this season, playing to an 8-14 mark thus far, including a 2-4 mark in conference play.

This does not necessarily come as a surprise, as the Scarlet Knights lost quite a bit of firepower from last year's Big East regular-season and tournament champions, led by Toms River native Todd Frazier, one of the very best hitters in the nation, and Brick Township native Steve Healing, who emerged as a legitimate ace last year after struggling with injuries through much of his career. The Scarlet Knights lost six position starters and five pitchers all together from last season's record-tying 42-game win total and league championship squad. RU also had five players selected in the 2007Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft from last season's team, led by Frazier.

However, the Scarlet Knights have plenty of talent back, and hope to put it all together before they find themselves out of the conference race.

At the plate, RU has been led by senior catcher Jon Gossard (of Old Tappan High School) and freshman first baseman Jaren Matthews (of Don Bosco Prep).

Gossard leads the team with 27 hits and is hitting .325, while Matthews has logged 26 base hits, batting at a .317 clip, with four home runs and a team-leading 26 RBIs. Junior outfielder Luis Feliz, of New Brunswick, has also excelled at the plate, leading the team with a .345 average (19-for-55), while senior outfielder Donnie Callahan is hitting a solid .298, with 14 hits in 47 at-bats.

Junior first baseman Tom Edwards (of Caldwell) was named to the Preseason All-Big East Team, but has struggled a bit thus far, hitting just .228, while Monroe Township graduate Jarred Jimenez, also a player expected to put up big numbers at the plate, is batting at a .222 clip.

The Scarlet Knights return a solid pitching corps with sophomore righty Casey Gaynor (Toms River) and junior righty Matt Giannini (of Millington) returning as starters. The addition of senior righty starter of Steve Holt (Toms River), who missed the 2007 campaign due to injury, will provide depth on the mound, while an experienced group of relievers is also back, led b juniors Kevin Lillis (a CBA grad from Fair Haven) and Jason Downey (of Ballston Lake), who combined for five saves in 2007. Spotswood's Willie Beard is also looked at as a key member of the Scarlet Knights' staff.

Rutgers' pitching staff has really struggled thus far, pitching to a collective 5.46 ERA. One of the bright spots has been the efforts of RBC graduate Kyle Bradley (a sophomore from Howell), who has pitched to a 3.07 ERA in 14 innings of work.

St. John's was picked to take the conference crown by the conference's coaches, with Louisville and South Florida picked second and third, respectively. The Scarlet Knights were picked to finish fourth.

On Sunday, Rutgers took on the team that has been the surprise of the conference early on, West Virginia. The Mountaineers have been playing excellent baseball since opening day, and have shown they are ready to play with the best in the Big East.

Sunday's game was simply the latest example of why the Mountaineers are earning the right to be recognized as a legitimate threat in the Big East, as they broke a 7-7 tie with a run in the 10th and held off Rutgers for an 8-7, extra-inning victory at Bainton Field in Piscataway.

West Virginia's Austin Markel led off the 10th with a walk and a wild pitch by Ryan Beard (a Point Pleasant native who played at Brookdale) moved him into scoring position, where Dan Dibartolomeo drove him home with a single through the hole on the left side for the game-winning score. Rutgers came close to tying it up when Feliz opened the 10th with a single and, after being sacrificed over, reached third with two outs. However, West Virginia reliever Chris Enourato got a hothitting Callahan to hit a comebacker for the final out of the game as the Mountaineers (20-6, 4-2) earned their first win in Piscataway in over a decade. Rutgers had won the last 14 games against WVU at home. It is the Mountaineers' first win in the Garden State since April 5, 1997.

West Virginia built a 3-0 early lead with two runs in the first and another in the second. The Scarlet Knights opened the second with a Jon Gossard (of Harrington Park) single and a Matthews' walk and both runners were sacrificed over into scoring position.AFeliz sacrifice fly plated Gossard, beforeMatthews came home on a wild pitch.

An infield error cost the Scarlet Knights a run in the third as the Mountaineers opened a two-run cushion with a 4-2 advantage, but Rutgers stormed back with a three-run fifth inning to surge out to a 5-4 advantage.

As they did yesterday, the Scarlet Knights scored all their runs in the frame with two outs, as Gossard found the gap in right-center field to score Callahan (single) and Jimenez singled through the left side to plate Edwards (walk) and Gossard.

TheMountaineers countered, however, with a three-run top of the sixth.

Rutgers then loaded the bases in the seventh and Enourato struck Jimenez to score a run, but the WVU hurler prevented further damage, getting Feliz to ground into an inning-ending double play.

The Scarlet Knights got their tying run one inning later with a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore shortstop Dan Betteridge (of Sewell) that brought him home. The Scarlet Knights threatened for more but stranded Callahan on third in the frame as RU headed to the ninth tied with WVU to set up the extra-inning dramatics.

Beard (0-2) suffered the loss, despite tossing 4.1 innings of solid relief with the lone run given up in the 10th. Rutgers concluded its nine-game homestand with a game yesterday at Bainton Field against Wagner, coached by former Rutgers standout Joe Litterio.

Today, they will take on a Monmouth University team that is feeling pretty good about itself after registering a season-high 26 runs, highlighted by three home runs, in a 26-5 victory over NJIT on Sunday afternoon, at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium. The Hawks (7-8) collected a season-high 24 hits, to earn their fifth straight victory.