Senior Day Photos | NJAC Tournament Bracket

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (April 29, 2017) – Behind a brilliant start from senior Chas Bohannon, the Rutgers University-Newark baseball team clinched a spot in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Tournament with a 3-1 triumph over Montclair State University in the second game of a league doubleheader Saturday at TD Bank Park.
 
Needing a win to guarantee a spot in the conference tournament after dropping the opener to the Red Hawks, Bohannon pitched brilliantly over 8.1 innings and junior catcher Justin Marks and junior third baseman Brian Boulineau each had run-scoring hits in a three-run eighth to propel R-N back to the NJAC playoffs for the first time since 2011.
 
Rutgers-Newark finishes the regular season 23-13-1 overall and 9-9 in the NJAC, while MSU moves to 15-22 overall and 7-11 in the conference.
 
"I am so happy for the guys, they deserve it," said Head Coach Mark Rizzi after the win. "They have worked so hard since September, and I told them you will always get rewarded for hard work. Making the NJAC playoffs is their reward. We are as good an anyone in the conference so the playoffs are going to be fun."
 
The fourth-seeded Scarlet Raiders will take on third-seeded Rowan University in Glassboro Tuesday afternoon in the opening round of the double elimination tournament.
 
Montclair State 6, Rutgers-Newark 1
Save for a two-out double from senior Josh Cote in the first and a Red Hawk bunt single, the two starters – junior Mike Zibrin for Newark and junior Michael Manfra for MSU – were in control for the first three innings.
 
Cote doubled again with one out in the fourth, but the game remained scoreless, and Zibrin worked around a bloop single and swinging bunt in the top half of the fifth.
 
MSU scored a run in the sixth on three hits to take a 1-0 lead as Jesse Baiza singled home the game's first run with the bases loaded and one out. The Red Hawks added a pair of the seventh to push the lead to three, and despite R-N bringing the tying run to the plate in the seventh thanks to an error and single from freshman JC Ball, the score held at 3-0.
 
Junior Brian Boulineau led off the eighth with a booming double to left-center, and he crossed the plate with the first Scarlet Raider run thanks to a single from junior Adam Tricarico, making it a 3-1 game heading to the ninth.
 
The Red Hawks scored three unearned runs in the ninth, and the Raiders were unable to mount the big comeback, falling by the 6-1 final.
 
R-N totaled seven hits in the opener, getting two each from Cote and Ball. Perconte worked two walks, and Marks, Tricarico and Boulineau had the other hits.
 
Manfra improved to 2-4 with the win, allowing four hits and no runs in 6.1 innings of work. Taylor Parsons notched the save, allowing one hit in the final 1.2 innings.
 
Zibrin fell to 5-3, allowing eight hits and three runs over 6.2. He walked one and struck out one.
 
Rutgers-Newark 3, Montclair State 1
Behind a brilliant start from Bohannon, Rutgers-Newark clinched a spot in the NJAC Tournament for the first time since 2011.
 
Bohannon went 8.1 innings, scattering six hits and striking out four. He gave up one run and improved to 2-1 on the season. Junior Luis Rojas came on to get the final two outs of the game to pick up his sixth save, and officially punch R-N's ticket to the postseason.
 
"Chas stepped up today and pitched a gem," added Rizzi. "He seemed to be ahead in the count all game. We needed him to go deep and he did."
 
With the game scoreless in the eighth, the Scarlet Raiders finally broke through. Freshman Colin Powers reached on an error, and Ball followed with a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. After an out, Marks came through with a base hit to right field, knocking in the game's first run. Cote walked to load the bases, and after another out, Boulineau ripped a two-run single to left to put Newark on top 3-0.
 
"The eighth inning is exactly how we played earlier in the season," added the coach. "Grinding out at-bats, taking walks and getting key hits."
 
Bohannon was able to get the first out of the ninth, but was eventually relieved by Rojas who slammed the door.
 
Bohannon came out firing, needing just 34 pitches to get through the first three innings. The veteran kept rolling, not giving up a hit until there were two outs in the fifth inning, but his counterpart Connor Lindsay was strong as well, allowing just one hit through five frames.
 
The two hurlers matched zeros in the sixth, and Bohannon navigated around a two-out, two-base error in the seventh to keep the Red Hawks off the board.
 
The senior continued his remarkable start, giving his team a chance to plate the winning tallies in the eighth.
 
R-N totaled four hits in the game. Marks went 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored, Boulineau went 1-for-4 with two RBI and Ball was 1-for-2 with a run and walk.
 
Rutgers-Newark and Rowan played in Glassboro earlier in the year, with the two teams splitting a pair.
 
Fans should visit www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com Monday for more information on the league tournament.