The Scarlet Knights had a single game against St. Joe’s postponed on Tuesday and prepared to head to Greenville, NC for the Keith LeClair Classic at Clark-LeClair Stadium.
It was a difficult start to the weekend as Rutgers was handed a 14-2 loss in seven innings to East Carolina.
The Pirates got to Dallin Harrison early, scoring seven runs in the first two innings. Harrison was credited with all runs, six earned, on eight hits in just one inning of work.
Rutgers got on the board on a Peyton Bonds’ single in the third inning. Trailing 14-1 in the sixth, Tristan Salinas drove in a run on a single as well.
The Scarlet Knights were in need of a bounce back effort on Saturday and it came on the right arm of Zack Konstantinovsky.
The right-hander delivered seven innings of one-hit ball, allowing no runs and striking out six with one walk to lead Rutgers to a 9-3 victory.
While Konstantinovsky got it done on the mound, the offense used the long ball to light up the scoreboard. Rutgers crushed six home runs in the win.
Joey Erace got the scoring started with a two-run shot in the second inning before Yomar Carreras added a solo home run in the fourth.
Peyton Bonds, Trey Wells, and Chase Krewson homered in a four-run fifth inning before Tristan Salinas added the sixth homer of the afternoon to put Rutgers up 9-0.
Rutgers got another strong pitching effort in game three — this time using multiple arms — but were outdueled.
The Scarlet Knights were shut down by Benjamin Stubbs of Troy during a 2-1 loss on Sunday.
Troy got the scoring started in the top of the first and took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth. Tristan Salinas scored on a wild pitch to tie the game late.
Joe Mazza allowed just one hit and no runs in four innings out of the bullpen to stabilize things. Chris Sand was strong to start as well, allowing three hits and one run in three innings.
Troy got an RBI single from Caden Reeves in the top of the ninth, which proved to be the game-winner.
Rutgers could not score in the bottom half to tie the game. The offense finished with just three hits.
The Scarlet Knights are scheduled to be back in action on Wednesday in a single game against Stony Brook at Bainton Field. Tuesday’s game vs. Georgetown was cancelled due to inclement weather and will not be made up.
