Box Score

ORANGE, CA – Senior Kyle Van Vliet hurled a complete-game six-hitter and Rutgers-Newark pounded out a dozen hits in a 3-2 win over Chapman in W.O. Hart Park.

Van Vliet lost a shutout bid in the ninth inning, but his effort helped the Scarlet Raiders (3-10) snap an eight-game losing streak while handing the Panthers (11-12) their third straight defeat.

Junior shortstop Kevin Olah went three for five with an RBI while freshman centerfielder Ryan Macfarlane was three for four with a run scored for the Raiders.  Freshman third baseman Brian Kokos went two for four with the game-winning hit.

Panther catcher Matt Grady singled to center to lead off the ninth and scored on a pinch hit triple into the right center field gap by freshman Tyler Cook to break up the shutout.  A ground out to first base by designated hitter Jeff Ortega plated Cook before Van Vliet posted his eighth strikeout to finish the night.  He walked just one batter while posting his first complete game of 2013 and the fifth of his two-year career in Scarlet & Black.

Van Vliet escaped a jam in the third, coaxing back-to-back ground balls back to the pitcher to strand runners on second and third.  The senior settled in to put the Panthers down in order in the fourth and fifth innings while allowing just one base runner at first through the seventh inning.  After Aguayo dropped down a bunt single to lead off the eighth, Van Vliet struck out back-to-back batters looking before stranding the Chapman runner at second by coaxing a routine fly ball to center field.

Offensively, Rutgers-Newark broke out of a slump by rapping out 12 hits against five Panther pitchers.

The Raiders broke through in the fifth with a two-out rally.  Macfarlane beat out an infield single ahead of a walk by freshman second baseman Gerry Patrizio.  Olah followed with an RBI single through the left side with Macfarlane getting past the catcher on a close play at the plate.

An RBI double down the right field line by junior rightfielder Jimmy Napolitano sparked a two-run eighth inning rally for the Raiders.  Olah led off the inning with a single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by junior first baseman Vin Troisi.  Kokos singled to bring home Napolitano.  Rutgers-Newark ran itself out of the inning when Kokos was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on a double into the right field corner by catcher Steve Tamayo, but the Raiders were still up by three runs following the rally.

Rutgers-Newark completes its spring break trip to California by playing three games against Occidental in the California Invitational over the next two days.  The teams play a doubleheader in Los Angeles starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, then square off in a final game at 11 o'clock on Sunday.

The Raiders return home to face Keystone College in LaPlume, PA, on Thursday before beginning their New Jersey Athletic Conference slate with a doubleheader against Montclair State on Saturday in Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium.