NEWARK, NJ – A grand slam by senior first baseman Andrew Drury in game one and solid starting pitching carried Ramapo to a 7-6 and 6-2 New Jersey Athletic Conference sweep of Rutgers-Newark in Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium.
NCAA Statistics: Ramapo 7, R-N 6 Ramapo 6, R-N 2
The Roadrunners (18-17, NJAC 7-11) posted a winning regular season and qualified for a possible ECAC Metro Championship Tournament berth while costing the Scarlet Raiders (18-19-1, NJAC 7-11) not only a winning season, but a possible post-season bid as well.
Ramapo starting pitchers Dan Mulligan and Chris Stanisce turned in strong efforts with Mulligan carrying the Roadrunners to within an out of victory in the opener before Stanisce posted a complete-game five-hitter in the nightcap.
In the opener, Drury's high fly ball down the leftfield line with two out in the seventh inning snuck inside the foul pole in the shortest part of the ball park to boost Ramapo into a 7-1 lead.
A pinch-hit three-run home run by junior Christian Diaz capped a four-run ninth inning rally which trimmed the Roadrunners' lead to one and chased Mulligan. Freshman righthander Jack McDonough came on to strike out the last batter and post a save.
Freshmen Matt Connors and Matt Citro collected three hits apiece to pace a 13-hit Rutgers-Newark attack, but the Raiders stranded 11 runners. Senior first baseman Dan Zika blasted a solo home run in the seventh and also doubled in the third while junior rightfielder Brian Gill also posted two hits.
Connors doubled to lead off the Raider first inning and scored on back-to-back singles by Gill and sophomore designated hitter Anthony Yeswita.
Raider sophomore starter Jack Winters (5-4) lasted into the seventh inning when Drury's slam ended his day. He gave up nine hits while striking out three and walking four. Junior reliever Robert Adams closed out the game, giving up just two singles.
In game two, freshman shortstop Rob Dimperio stroked a two-out bases-loaded single to rightfield to give Ramapo a 3-1 lead in the seventh. The Roadrunners tacked on three insurance runs in the top of the ninth on two walks, a pair of sacrifice bunts and two singles to get some breathing room.
Freshman shortstop Patrick Reitemeyer broke up a perfect game bid by Stanisce with a one-out double in the sixth. He added a single in the eighth to be the only Raider with two hits. He doubled to right centerfield and scored on a single by Citro in the sixth. A ninth-inning triple by Gill and a seventh-inning double by Yeswita were the only other Rutgers-Newark hits.
Rookie pitcher Billy Cerruti (1-5) battled into the eighth inning, yielding just six hits while strikout out three and walking four, to keep the Raiders in the fray.
