NEWARK, N.J. (April 25, 2015) – Senior Andrew Nasti earned the win in his final collegiate start, and the Rutgers-Newark baseball team won the second game of a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) doubleheader against Richard Stockton on Saturday at Riverfront Stadium.
 
After dropping a tough opener by a 5-4 margin, the Scarlet Raiders came back to take game two behind Nasti and a 14-hit offensive attack.
 
The Scarlet Raiders close the 2015 season with a record of 12-26 (2-16 NJAC), while Stockton moves to 15-15 overall and 7-11 in the conference.
 
Game 1
Stockton scored two in the first, and the Raiders answered with two of their own, getting an RBI triple from sophomore left fielder Josh Cote and a run-scoring single from junior center fielder Ryan MacFarlane.
 
Starter Jonathan Dominguez settled down nicely after the first, throwing up three-straight zeros, striking out four, and the Scarlet Raiders were able to take their first lead of the game with three-straight two-out base hits. Junior right fielder Billy Taylor started the rally, junior shortstop Gerry Patrizio drove in Taylor after a stolen base, with freshman catcher Justin Marks plating Patrizio to make it 4-2 after four.
 
Dominguez retired the Ospreys in order in the fifth, and received two gorgeous plays in the outfield in the sixth to keep the Raiders ahead, 4-2. Cote made a play deep in the left field corner for the first out of the inning, and MacFarlane made a diving play in center for the third out, sprinting in to snare a bloop off the bat of catcher Antonio Morello.
 
An error extended the top half of the seventh inning, and cleanup hitter George Eisenhart made it hurt, connecting on a three-run homer to left-center to give the Ospreys a 5-4 lead they would not give up.
 
Dominguez suffered the hard-luck loss, tossing eight strong innings and giving up five runs (two earned). The senior – making his final appearance for the Raiders – scattered 10 hits and struck out eight. Aidan Ryan went six for the Ospreys to improve to 5-2 on the season. He was charged with four runs on 10 hits. Righty reliever Chris Nichols threw a scoreless inning of relief for Rutgers-Newark.
 
The Scarlet Raiders stole nine bases in the loss, getting three from Patrizio, three from MacFarlane and two from Taylor. All three now have 20 or more swipes on the season.
 
R-N pounded out 11 hits in the opener, getting a 4-for-5 performance from MacFarlane who also drove in one. Patrizio had two hits in five trips along with two runs and an RBI, while Marks finished 2-for-5 with a run batted in.
 
Game 2
Nasti rolled through the first two innings, with the Raiders getting an early lead thanks to second-inning doubles from right fielder Cameron Dias and MacFarlane. Senior catcher Dan Lopez delivered a hard-hit two-out single up the middle to stake Rutgers to a 2-0 edge, with Taylor coming through with an RBI knock to right after sophomore second baseman Jeff Reinecke did the same one batter earlier.
 
Nasti worked around a two-on one-out jam in the third, inducing a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the inning with  no damage, and the offense scored another in the bottom half. Patrizio lined a single to right to open the inning, quickly stole his fourth base of the day and advanced to third on a productive out from Marks. The junior then scored on a Dias sacrifice fly.
 
Four hits in the fourth resulted in two more runs for the Raiders. MacFarlane, Goodman, Reinecke and Taylor had the knocks, and both Taylor and Reinecke picked up RBI's.
 
Nasti and the Scarlet Raider defense did a tremendous job as the senior went 8.1 innings, allowing a two-run homer in the ninth. He picked up his first win of the season (1-5), scattering nine hits, walking two and striking out seven. He was replaced in the ninth inning to a rousing ovation, with freshman Mike Zibrin coming on to record the final two outs.
 
Taylor went 2-for-4 with two RBI's in game two, and Dias was 3-for-3 with a run batted in as well. MacFarlane finished his excellent six-hit day with a 2-for-4 performance, picking up an RBI and two runs scored, and Reinecke was 2-for-4 with a run batted in as well.
 
Prior to the doubleheader, Rutgers-Newark honored six seniors playing in Newark for the final time in Nick Gencarelli, Dan Lopez, Rowland Goodman, Andrew Nasti, Jonathan Dominguez and Shane Nolan.