DAVENPORT, Fla. (Mar. 9)- The Saint Vincent baseball team concluded their Florida spring trip with an 8-5 defeat by Rutgers-Newark on Saturday afternoon.
 
Rutgers (4-3) quickly took a 4-0 lead in the first two innings, but the Bearcats (1-6) battled back with four combined runs in the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game. The Scarlet Raiders answered with two runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to hand SVC the loss.
 
The Bearcats were led at the plate by Billy Perroz who went 2-4 with two runs scored and a walk as well. Mario Disso also recorded two hits in his five at bats for Saint Vincent as well, while also driving in a run.
 
Matthew Lockwich, Alex Hess, Kyle Belmont, and Ben Hudson all had one hit as well. Caleb Leechalk and Jimmy Davis recorded pinch hits off the bench to add to Saint Vincent's total.
 
Michael Klingensmith took the loss on the mound for the Bearcats, pitching 5.1 innings, giving up six earned runs on eight hits. Klingensmith struck out eight batters and walked two batters in the loss.
 
Cody May, Troy Gilpin, and Christopher Rayman all threw scoreless outings in relief.
 
Rutgers-Newark got on the board first with three first inning runs and added another run in the second, while shutting the Bearcats out to take a 4-0 lead into the fourth inning.
 
The Bearcats began to chip away at the lead in the fourth inning as Hess walked with the bases loaded, scoring Perroz to cut the lead to 4-1.
 
Saint Vincent scored three more in the bottom of the fifth as well. Disso started it off with an RBI double to center that scored Perroz once again to cut the lead in half at 4-2. Lockwich stepped in then with a two-out, two-RBI double down the right field line, scoring Disso and Jacob Auld to tie the game at 4-4.
 
Over the next few innings, it was all Rutgers. The Scarlet Raiders hit two solo home runs in the sixth and added a two-out, RBI single to left field in the seventh as they increased their lead back up to four at 8-4.
 
Both teams went quiet in the eighth inning and the Bearcats showed a little bit of life in the ninth. Davis smacked a two-out, RBI double to left field, scoring Leechalk and then SVC loaded the bases. The Bearcats stranded the bases with two outs as a flyout to right field ended the game.
 
Rutgers-Newark scored eight runs on ten hits, while the Bearcats scored five runs on two hits, committing two errors as well.
 
Saint Vincent will now head back north and take the week off, before traveling to Newport News, Virginia to take on the Apprentice School on Friday, March 15 for a doubleheader. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 1 p.m., with game two to follow after the conclusion of the first game.