NEWARK, NJ – The Scarlet Raiders split a doubleheader with southern Jersey foe Rutgers-Camden on Sunday.
Game 1: Rutgers-Newark 4, Rutgers-Camden 14
Rutgers-Newark dropped the first game of Sunday's doubleheader at Weequahic Park, falling to Rutgers-Camden 14–4 after the Scarlet Raptors used a six-inning scoring stretch to pull away in the middle frames.
The Scarlet Raiders jumped out to an early lead behind leadoff man
Eric Recchia, who opened the bottom of the first with a single and scored on an RBI single from
Dario Morales to give Newark a 1–0 edge. Morales added another RBI in the third inning with a sacrifice fly, plating Recchia once again to make it 2–0.
Rutgers-Camden responded in the fourth, putting up four runs to take control of the game. A two-RBI double from Brandon Petrick gave the Raptors the lead followed by another run that extended their lead to 4-2. From there, the Scarlet Raptors scored in every inning through the ninth, steadily building their lead.
Camden added one run in the fifth, three in the sixth, one in the seventh, three in the eighth, and two in the ninth to round out a 14-run performance on 11 hits. Meanwhile, Rutgers-Newark managed single runs in the fifth and seventh but struggled to string together hits in key moments.
Game 2: Rutgers-Newark 2, Rutgers-Camden 1
Behind a gritty pitching performance and clutch seventh-inning execution, the Rutgers-Newark baseball team earned a hard-fought 2–1 win over Rutgers-Camden in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader at Weequahic Park.
After falling in Game One, the Scarlet Raiders bounced back with sharp defense and timely hitting to earn the split. Sophomore pitcher
Vince Taylor delivered a strong relief outing to earn the win and move to 3–0 on the season, closing the door after Rutgers-Camden threatened late.
Rutgers-Newark broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Joseph Bernardo reached base and later came around to score on an RBI triple by
Tommy Ruth, giving the Scarlet Raiders a 1–0 lead.
The score remained unchanged until the seventh when Rutgers-Camden broke through with a game-tying run on an RBI single but Rutgers-Newark responded immediately in the bottom half of the frame.
Devin Rojas reached base and advanced into scoring position before coming home on a sacrifice fly by
Michael Weinbel, putting the Raiders back on top, 2–1.
Taylor and the Rutgers-Newark defense held strong in the final two innings to preserve the one-run lead. Starter
Joey Santi delivered a solid outing, scattering four hits across five scoreless innings in a no-decision.
