MAHWAH, N.J. | The Scarlet Raiders needed to win three of their last four games to take hold of the final seed in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships Tournament. After dropping the first game of the series to Ramapo College at home the Scarlet Raiders used two come-from-behind victories over New Jersey City University over the weekend to set them up for this afternoon's must-win showdown at the Roadrunners. Rutgers University-Newark scored a plethora of runs to take an early lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 12-6 win that propelled them into the NJAC playoffs for the first time since 2017. 

David Vasquez (2-0) got the start on the mound for the Scarlet Raiders (15-17, 9-9 NJAC) and hurled eight innings while allowing six hits and a pair of earned runs. Vasquez also struck out three en route to his second win of the season.

John Klimowich led the team with three RBI while going 2-for-6 from the dish with a run. Connor Clare finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and run for R-N while Kevin Tamsula also picked up a trio of hits in four at-bats with three runs scored. 

Philip Mahlik led the Roadrunners of Ramapo College (23-12, 13-5 NJAC) by going 3-for-5 with a run while Vincent Timpanelli went 1-for-1 with a pair of RBI. Ramapo used five pitchers in the loss with starter Tyler Lombardo (3-1) suffering his first loss of the season in just two innings of action. 

The Scarlet Raiders were extremely active at the plate to start the game as Clare was first on with single to left center. Luke Magliaro backed that up with a single to right center, setting up Klimowich to bring in the first run of the game. Klimowich didn't waste his opportunity as he looked at one pitch before lining one down the left field line for an RBI double. Tamsula would be patient at the plate and take four pitches to load the bases. Gerardo A. Reyes was able to follow suit to walk in a run to double their lead before L. Magliaro took advantage of a wild pitch to cross home plate. 

The Scarlet Raiders used an error in the second inning to add to their tally to take a 4-0 lead before the Roadrunners were able to answer. Up 4-1 headed into the third inning, the Scarlet Raiders doubled their lead by scoring four more runs. Rutgers University-Newark got their scoring started when Lisandro Ulerio walked in a run after a pair of singles and walk loaded the bases. Clare would walk in another run before Klimowich singled to right field to score Michael Streim and Ulerio for a two-RBI single. 

Rutgers University-Newark knocked in four more runs over the fourth and fifth innings to take a 12-3 lead after five innings. Scoring would come at a premium after that as the Scarlet Raiders were held scoreless for the remainder of the game while Ramapo would make one last push by scoring three in the bottom of the ninth. 

The Scarlet Raiders are back on the diamond tomorrow afternoon when they travel to Glassboro, NJ to take on #1 seeded Rowan University at 3:30 pm in the opening round of the NJAC Tournament.