FLEMINGTON, N.J. – Despite four hits from sophomore Max Tecce (Glen Cove, N.Y.), the Mount Saint Mary College baseball team dropped their season opener to Rutgers-Newark, 16-5. It was also the first game of the season for the Scarlet Raiders.

Rutgers-Newark jumped all over the Knights in the first inning, sending twelve batters to the plate and racking up eight runs. Sophomore catcher Anthony Palladino (Emerson, N.J.) laced a three-run triple to right-center to clear the bases and make the score, 5-0.

The Knights clawed back into the game with two runs in the third and three runs in the fifth to make it a three-run game. Tecce drove home a run in the third with a double to right-center and then it was junior Louis Peisel (Brewster, N.Y.) who launched a solo home run to left-center. In the fifth, it was Tecce doing the damage once again, this time with a two-run double to left-center.

The comeback would be short-lived, however, as the Scarlet Raiders responded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth to seize control of the game. Senior Anthony Yeswita (Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.) drove home a pair of runs with a double before a costly error allowed three more runs to score. Rutgers-Newark would tack on two more in the sixth and another run in the seventh to make the final score, 16-5.

Tecce finished 4-for-4 with 3 RBIs and a run scored. Freshman Michael Matuk (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) went 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.

For the Scarlet Raiders, Palladino was 2-for-3 with 4 RBIs and a run scored, while Yeswita went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Senior starting pitcher Tom Abair (Old Bridge, N.J.) tossed five innings to collect the victory.

Mount Saint Mary will pick up their spring schedule in Florida. The Knights will compete at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational in Auburndale, Florida, playing seven games between March 7 and March 12.