NEWARK, N.J. (April 9, 2015) – Despite a strong start from senior Jonathan Dominguez and another home run off the bat of sophomore left fielder Josh Cote, the Rutgers-Newark baseball team was defeated by Ramapo College by a score of 5-2 Thursday afternoon at Riverfront Stadium.
 
With the loss, the Scarlet Raiders fall to 9-15 overall and 0-7 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC). Ramapo moves to 16-8 overall and 5-2 in the NJAC. The two teams will close out their home-and-home series Friday in Mahwah beginning at 3:30 p.m.
 
Dominguez worked in and out of trouble in the first four innings, allowing the Scarlet Raider bats to give him a 2-1 lead heading into the fifth. Three Roadrunners reached base with no hits in the first, but he allowed just one to cross the plate. Two more reached base in the second before he retired the side in order in the third.

Cote blasted his fifth home run of the year – a line shot to left-center – to tie the game at one in the bottom of the third, and R-N took a 2-1 lead in the home half of the fourth. Freshman catcher Justin Marks led off the inning with a hard-hit double to right-center, and junior right fielder Cameron Dias singled to left to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Following a strikeout, junior shortstop Ryan MacFarlane grounded into a fielder's choice to give the Scarlet Raiders the lead.

Despite scoring one run in the first, Ramapo did not record its first hit of the game until there were two outs in the fifth inning and junior second baseman Joe Venturino doubled off the left field wall. The double broke a streak in which Rutgers-Newark pitchers did not allow a single hit for 13.2 innings. Senior starter Shane Nolan pitched a complete-game no-hitter Tuesday at Drew University.

Venturino came around to tie the score (2-2) on a Scarlet Raider error, and two errors in the sixth allowed Ramapo to regain the lead with three more tallies. The big blow was a two-run double down the left field line from senior shortstop Scott Shields.

Dominguez finished his afternoon after six innings, allowing five runs on four hits, walking two and striking out four. None of the runs on his ledger were earned in what was a strong performance by the veteran right hander. Freshman Dan Murphy came on in relief of Dominguez and tossed a scoreless frame with rookie JR Hilcher putting up zeros in both innings he worked for Rutgers-Newark.

Cote was the only Scarlet Raider with two hits, finishing his day 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Marks and Dias had the other Scarlet Raider knocks as Rutgers-Newark totaled four on the day.

Ramapo recorded six hits with Shields' double being the biggest of the afternoon. Senior starter Walker Larson went the distance for the Roadrunners to improve to 5-1 on the season. The veteran allowed two runs on four hits, striking out 10. Dominguez took the hard-luck loss (1-2) despite allowing no earned runs for the Raiders.