Rutgers-Camden Athletics

Senior Billy Jackson turned in a stellar performance on the mound as Rutgers-Camden shut down the nation’s second-ranked team, Wisconsin-La Crosse, in the opening game of the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational for the Rutgers-Camden baseball team Sunday. Jackson held last season’s national runner-up scoreless for seven innings before allowing three runs in the eighth, but by that time the Scarlet Raptors had built a 12-0 lead on their way to a 16-4 victory. Jackson’s final line was seven innings pitched, eight hits, three earned runs, no walks and eight strikeouts against a team that went 36-16 last year and opened this season with a doubleheader sweep by scores of 11-4 and 24-1. In his two starts this season, Jackson owns a 2-0 record and a 2.08 ERA in 13 innings, allowing 10 hits and no walks, while striking out 12. He has helped Rutgers-Camden jump off to a 4-0 start, including two wins against nationally-ranked clubs. In his first season at Rutgers-Camden last year, the transfer from Camden County College went 6-1 with a 2.38 ERA, had a string of 19-2/3 consecutive scoreless innings at one point, and earned New Jersey Collegiate Baseball Association Div. II/III First Team All-State recognition.