| Shane Nolan's final line: 9.0 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 walks, 0 runs, five strikeouts, 82 pitches. Rutgers-Newark athletics photo |
Senior starter Shane Nolan threw a no-hitter to lead the Rutgers-Newark baseball team to a 14-0 win over Drew University Tuesday afternoon in Madison, N.J.
Nolan tossed just 82 pitches, facing the minimum number of batters (27) in an amazing performance for Rutgers-Newark. The senior righty carried a perfect game into the ninth inning, but an error ended that bid with nobody out. Despite the error, Nolan kept his cool, inducing a 4-6-3 double-play groundout on the next batter before a popup to third base completed the no-no.
The 6-0 senior from Livingston, N.J. improves to 1-1 on the season while the Scarlet Raiders improve to 9-14 overall. Drew drops to 7-15 in defeat.
The Nolan no-no comes one day after Rutgers-Newark was able to erase a 10-0 deficit in a 13-12 walk-off win over Penn St.-Abington. That win over the Nittany Lions snapped a four-game R-N skid and opened a stretch in which the Raiders will play seven games in six days.
Junior centerfielder Billy Taylor continued to swing a hot bat, leading the game off with a single up the middle. He stole second base to get into scoring position, and a single from junior second baseman Gerry Patrizio put runners on the corners with nobody out. Junior right fielder Cameron Dias walked to load the bases following a strikeout, with third baseman Nick Gencarelli delivering a sacrifice fly on an 0-2 pitch to give the Scarlet Raiders a 1-0 lead.
R-N extended its lead to two runs (2-0) in the top half of the third inning. Taylor led things off with a walk and stole second just as he did in the top of the first, before freshman catcher Justin Marks delivered a one out run-scoring single.
Rutgers-Newark was unable to extend its lead further until the eighth inning, when it scored four runs to open a 6-0 lead. Gencarelli ripped an RBI single to plate Marks, junior shortstop Ryan MacFarlane laced an RBI double to drive in Dias, and sophomore first baseman Chas Bohannon singled to center to bring home Gencarelli and Dias.
Sophomore left fielder Josh Cote was hit by a pitch to open the ninth and was driven in by a Patrizio single for the seventh Rutgers-Newark run and first of eight in the inning. A Dias single to center drove in Marks, with Patrizio coming around on a throwing error, and Bohannon singled to left to drive in Dias, giving the Scarlet Raiders 10 runs. A walk to sophomore second baseman Jeff Reinecke forced in Gencarelli, and Cote singled to bring home MacFarlane, before an error allowed Bohannon to score making it 13-0. A fielder's choice helped Reinecke score the final guest run of the afternoon.
Taylor finished 2-for-4 with two walks, two steals and two runs, with Patrizio finishing 2-for-6 with two RBI's and a run scored. Marks was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, Dias finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and Gencarelli went 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBI's. MacFarlane went 2-for-4 with two runs, and Bohannon ended the contest 2-for-5 with three RBI's.
R-N finished with 14 hits and 14 runs as a total of 21 runners earned their way on base (seven walks).
After allowing 10 runs to cross the plate in the first two innings Monday, Rutgers-Newark pitchers have allowed two runs over the last 16 innings.
The Scarlet Raiders will look to make it three-straight wins when they visit Franklin & Marshall College Wednesday. The game will be played at Clipper Magazine Stadium – home of the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League.