WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — The UW-River Falls baseball team dropped a 9-5 decision against Rutgers-Newart Saturday afternoon during its third of six games at the RussMatt Invitational.
The Falcons, now 1-2 overall, have tomorrow off before returning to action on Monday morning to face Clarkson University. First pitch is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. (ET).
Rutgers-Newark jumped out to an early lead with a four-run first inning, including a three-run double. They added to their lead with two more runs in the fifth, and in the sixth, scoring again on a groundout and a passed ball, pushing the score to 8-0.
The Falcons rallied in the seventh inning, scoring four runs. Ryan Eckerle sparked the offense with a two-RBI triple, followed by a double from Max Krebs and an RBI groundout by Tanner Hraby that brought in three runs. However, the Falcons couldn't complete the comeback as Rutgers-Newark added one more run in the eighth inning and allowed just one more UWRF run to seal the win.
Hraby collected his second RBI of the game in the ninth, driving in Krebs with a single. Krebs led the Falcons with three hits and two runs scored, followed by two hits each from Hraby, Kole Paulsen, and JV Castillo.
Shaun Gavin made his first start on the mound and after a rough start, pitched three scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Four Falcons made relief appearances, with Brett Sullivan, Andrew Mumm, Caydon Lomas, and Isaac Mens combining for three earned runs allowed in four innings.
