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GALLOWAY, NJ – Strong pitching and an opportunistic offense carried Rutgers University-Newark to a 2-1 and 5-3 sweep of Richard Stockton in a key New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader.
 
IN GAME ONE, sophomore righthander Chris Nichols carried a shutout into the seventh inning.  Nichols (2-3) scattered four hits while striking out one and walking two in seven full innings of work before freshman reliever Chas Bohannon came on to get a save by blanking the Ospreys over the final two innings on no hits.
 
The Scarlet Raiders scored in the third and fourth innings to produce all the runs that they would need as Nichols earned a pitchers' duel win over senior righthander Brendan Stout (4-3) who gave up just three hits while striking out five and walking four in 7-1/3 innings.
 
In the third, in the senior first baseman Vin Troisi doubled home the first run after sophomore second baseman Gerry Patrizio had walked to open the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore shortstop Ryan MacFarlane.
 
Bohannon, who started the game as the designated hitter, scored the winning run on an error following a stolen base in the fourth.  Bohannon singled with one away and moved to second base on a wild pitch.  Freshman catcher Jose Cote singled to left field to put Raiders on the corners.  Cote stole second and the throw from the catcher got away to allow Bohannon to cross the plate.
 
Meanwhile, Nichols was getting big play defense to support his pitching.  The Raiders turned MacFarlane to Patrizio to Troisi double plays to end the second and fourth innings.
 
IN GAME TWO, freshman lefthander Rafael Totesautt gave the Raiders six full innings before turning the game over the MacFarlane.  The rookie gave up just one earned run while scattering six hits, walking four and striking out three.
 
MacFarlane and senior centerfielder/closer Jimmy Napolitano combined to blank the Ospreys over the final three innings.   After retiring the Ospreys in order in the seventh, MacFarlane gave up a pair of singles in the eighth but stranded a runner on third to maintain the 2-run advantage.  Napolitano came on in the ninth to get three fly ball outs while facing the minimum to earn the save.
 
In the first inning, sophomore rightfielder Cameron Dias stroked an RBI single before scoring on a 2-out double by senior centerfielder Jimmy Napolitano.  MacFarlane walked and stole second to open the game before moving to third on a ground ball by Troisi to set up the 2-run rally.
 
The Raiders pushed their lead to 4-1 in the fifth inning with the help of a pair of Stockton errors.  After Patrizio and MacFarlane opened the inning with back-to-back singles, a throwing error by the pitcher on Troisi's sacrifice bunt loaded the bases with no one out.  A 6-4-3 double-play grounder off the bat of Dias brought in Patrizio before an infield error off the bat of junior leftfielder Michael Murray plated MacFarlane.
 
An RBI single by junior first baseman Erik Danser put the Ospreys on the board in the fourth before an infield error opened the gates for two unearned runs in the fifth to trim the Raider lead to 4-3.  After delivering a 2-out RBI single to leftfield and moving to second base on a wild pitch, Stockton senior third baseman Travis Marra was thrown out trying to steal third base by Cote to end the inning.
 
Patrizio led off the seventh with a double down the right field line before Dias came through with a 2-out single through the middle of the infield to give the Raiders a 5-3 edge.
 
The sweep kept the Raider (12-20, NJAC 6-8) in the thick of the battle for one of six NJAC Championship Tournament berths entering the final week of the season.  Rutgers-Newark hosts Rutgers-Camden on Thursday before travelling to Camden on Friday.  The Raiders host William Paterson on Senior Day in a regular-season ending NJAC doubleheader on Rutgers University's Bainton Field.
 
Rutgers-Newark hosts Misericordia in a non-league contest on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium before settling their post-season fate in the last four NJAC games of the season later in the week.