NEWARK, NJ – Senior catcher Gerard Russomanno drove in three runs while going two for four as Rutgers-Newark rallied for a 9-4 New Jersey Athletic Conference win over New Jersey City in Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium. 

NCAA Box Score & Play-by-Play

The Scarlet Raiders (12-6, NJAC 3-1) got three hits apiece from sophomore shortstop Patrick Reitemeyer and junior first baseman Matt Lingo to pace an 11-hit attack, but the key factors was were six Gothic Knight errors while led to eight unearned runs.  

NJCU senior designated hitter Jose Colon, who went two for four, hammered a two-run homer to dead centerfield in the fourth inning to trim the Rutgers-Newark lead to 5-3. Sophomore third baseman Michael Fiorentino went two for five with an RBI single in the seventh. 

Sophomore second baseman Matt Connors highlighted a five-run second inning for the Raiders with a two-run double to left as R-N rapped out four singles and took advantage of two infield errors to take a 5-1 lead. All five runs were unearned.

Fiorentino singled to left and scored on a double to center by senior centerfielder Mark Hoyer to stake the Gothic Knights (10-12-1, NJAC 2-2) to an early lead in to top of the first. 

Russomanno had a bases-loaded fielder's choice RBI to shortstop in the fifth which produced a second run on a throwing error to first by the second baseman, boosting the Rutgers-Newark lead to 7-3. 

After an RBI single by Fiorentino in the top of the seventh trimmed the Raider lead to 7-4, Russomanno dropped a bases-loaded single into short right field to plate the final two runs. 

Junior righthander Jack Winters got the win by working five full innings, yielding three runs on six hits while striking out six and walking two. Junior Tom Abair gave up a run on one hit while striking out three in two innings of relief before seniors Robert Falkand Robert Adams closed out with an inning of shutout relief each. 

Freshman starter Nelson Maldonado was the hard-luck loser, giving up no earned runs on eight hits while striking out seven and walking just one in five full innings. 

Rutgers-Newark visits Montclair State on Thursday for a 3:30 p.m. NJAC contest while the Gothic Knights are at Staten Island on Wednesday at 6 p.m.