GLASSBORO, N.J. (April 15, 2017) – The Rutgers University-Newark baseball team ended a very successful weekend in New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) play with a split at rival Rowan University Saturday.
 
The Scarlet Raiders rolled to a 12-3 triumph in the opener, but the Profs came back and won the nightcap, 18-7. R-N finished the week winning 3-of-4 inside the conference and is in second place in the standings with eight NJAC games remaining. 
 
Rutgers-Newark is now 7-3 in the NJAC and 18-7-1 overall, while Rowan moves to 6-4 in league play and 22-10 overall. The Scarlet Raiders will return to action with their home-opener Monday afternoon against Baruch College at Riverfront Stadium. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
 
Rutgers-Newark 12, Rowan 3
Rutgers-Newark raced out of the gate, scoring twice in the first inning and three more times in the second to stake starter Mike Zibrin to a 5-0 lead.
 
Junior third baseman Brian Boulineau drove in the first two runs of the game with a two-out double that brought in junior center fielder Anthony Perconte (1B) and senior left fielder Josh Cote (E).
 
Sophomore Ryan Zucker made the score 3-0 with a run-scoring single that plated junior Ross Halkias who had singled earlier in the inning, and junior catcher Justin Marks was the next Raider to come through with a clutch hit, driving in a pair with a single to right field.
 
Rowan chipped away, scoring a single run in the third and two in the fourth to get within two at 5-3. Zibrin tossed up consecutive zeros in the fifth and sixth, and the Raiders pushed across a run in the top half of the seventh to get the lead back to three. Freshman designated hitter Colin Powers led off with an infield single, and freshman second baseman JC Ball stayed hot with an RBI double down the left-field line.
 
The Scarlet Raiders added to their cushion in the eighth after veteran reliever Chas Bohannon came on and sent down the Profs one-two-three in the bottom of the seventh. Perconte led off with a double, Boulineau was hit by a pitch and Halkias drove in two with a triple to right. Ball singled up the middle for another run-scoring hit, and Rutgers continued to pour it on in the ninth with a two-run double from junior Adam Tricarico and another RBI hit from Halkias.
 
Zibrin earned the win with a very solid performance. The junior went six innings, giving up three runs on five hits while striking out seven to move to 5-1. Bohannon was masterful in relief to earn his first save of the season with three innings of no-hit ball.
 
Halkias led a 14-hit attack, going 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Ball was 3-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI, Perconte was 2-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored and Powers was 2-for-3 with a run. Boulineau and Tricarico each tallied a hit and two RBI.
 
Rowan 18, Rutgers-Newark 7
It was Rowan that took the upper hand early in the second game of the day, scoring three times in the first and twice in the second for a 5-0 advantage.
 
After Rowan padded its lead with a single tally in the third, Cote doubled to lead off the fourth inning and Perconte followed with an infield single to put runners on first and second with nobody out. After an out, Tricarico came up and left the yard, blasting a three-run homer to left for his third long ball of the season. Later in the inning, Powers singled to center and scored on a double to left from Ball, pulling Newark within two at 6-4.
 
Two would be as close as the Scarlet Raiders would get as Rowan responded with six runs in the bottom of the inning to open a 12-4 edge.
 
Despite the large deficit, Rutgers-Newark continued to battle with the bats, pushing across three more runs in the fifth on the back of Tricarico's second homer in as many at-bats. The blast was of the three-run variety and brought around Boulineau and Marks.
 
R-N finished with 12 hits in the nightcap. Ball went 3-for-3 with an RBI to finish his day 6-for-6, and Tricarico was 2-for-2 with six RBI and two runs scored. Cote went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
 
Victor Lebron improved to 2-0 on the mound for Rowan, going three scoreless innings in relief and allowed no runs and just one hit. Freshman Vincent Conti took the loss for Rutgers-Newark, dropping to 1-1 on the season.