NJAC Tournament Bracket | Tournament Central
 
NEWARK, N.J. (May 1, 2017) – The fourth-seeded Rutgers University-Newark baseball team suffered a 10-3 loss at third-seeded Rowan University Tuesday afternoon in the opening round of the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship Tournament.
 
R-N drops to 23-14-1 overall, while Rowan improves to 24-17.
 
The Scarlet Raiders will take on top-seeded The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) Friday at 3:30 p.m. in Union, N.J. at Jim Hynes Stadium (Kean University). Rutgers-Newark will need to win in order to continue playing in the double-elimination tournament.
 
Newark was able to take a 1-0 lead early in the action when junior right fielder Adam Tricarico tripled home a run in the top half of the first inning.
 
Rowan would tie the score at one apiece after one, and the Profs went on to run off 10 unanswered runs to take a 10-1 margin after five innings of play. Rowan scored two-runs on three hits in the second to take the lead for good, pushing across one in the fourth and six in the fifth.
 
The Scarlet Raiders scored single tallies in the eighth and ninth. Junior catcher Justin Marks doubled in the eighth ahead of a run-scoring single from senior left fielder Josh Cote, and sophomore shortstop Ryan Zucker drove in freshman center fielder John Klimowich who doubled earlier in the frame with a sacrifice fly.
 
Scarlet Raider starter Dominick Fazio dropped to 2-2 on the season, allowing six runs – four earned – on nine hits with three strikeouts. Senior reliever Vincent Enea pitched exceptionally well for the Raiders, coming on for the final 3.1 innings and allowing no runs on five hits with one strikeout.
 
Rowan starting pitcher Brad Machinski tossed seven solid innings, allowing a run on four hits with six strikeouts to improve to 6-1 on the season.
 
R-N totaled eight hits in the game. Marks went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored, while Zucker went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Cote and Tricarico (3B) each had a hit and an RBI, Klimowich picked up a hit and a run scored, and freshman Colin Powers tallied the final Rutgers-Newark knock.
 
The Scarlet Raiders were playing in the conference tournament for the first time since the 2011 season. R-N will battle the top-seeded Lions Friday, and with a win would play again Saturday.
 
Rutgers-Newark baseball fans should continue to check www.rutgersnewarkathletics.com for the latest on the tournament, postseason honors and more. Fans can also follow @ScarletRaiders on twitter for updates.

Ticket prices for the rest of the tournament at Jim Hynes Stadium are $5 for adults; $2 for students (with ID); $2 for senior citizens; and $2 for children.