Box Score 1 | Box Score 2


AUBURNDALE, Florida – It took over two weeks for the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team to begin its delayed 2015 season.
 
The delay was worth the wait.
 
The Scarlet Raptors, who were supposed to open their season Feb. 27 and have seen five games canceled or postponed so far this year, finally opened their season here Sunday at the RussMatt Florida Central Invitational. They opened in style as junior Kyle Gaff (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester) saved both ends of a 5-4, 3-2 doubleheader sweep over Amherst (Mass.) College.
 
Amherst, ranked No. 23 in the pre-season ABCA/Collegiate Baseball poll and a team that has received votes in each of the four weeks, including the pre-season, of the D3baseball.com poll, falls to 0-3 on its season-opening trip.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action in Auburndale Monday, facing nationally-ranked Cortland State at 11 a.m. The Red Dragons are currently ranked No. 3 in the D3baseball.com poll and were No. 5 in the pre-season ABCA/Collegiate Baseball poll.
  

In the opening game, the Jeffs scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead before the Scarlet Raptors started chipping away at the deficit. An error, a single by senior first baseman Connor Hall (Delran, NJ/Delran) and a run-scoring passed ball made it a 4-2 game in the sixth inning. Rutgers-Camden added another run in the seventh following a leadoff single by junior third baseman Brett Tenuto (Audubon, NJ/Gloucester Catholic). He scored on a ground out by sophomore right fielder Zach Ellin (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee), setting the stage for the eventual game-winning two-run rally in the top of the ninth inning.
 
With two outs and nobody on base in the ninth, senior center fielder Bobby Romano (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) singled and Ellin was hit by a pitch. Sophomore shortstop Pedro Perez (Burlington, NJ/Burlington City) ripped a two-run double to put Rutgers-Camden ahead, 5-4.
 
The Raptors were able to mount a comeback thanks to the stellar relief job by freshman Carter Fichter (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial). Fichter, who collected the win in his first collegiate game, entered the contest in the sixth inning and held the Jeffs scoreless during his 3-2/3-inning stint, allowing four hits and one walk, while striking out four. With two outs in the ninth, he allowed back-to-back singles, so Gaff entered the game and nailed down the victory by getting a pop to Hall at first base.
 
Perez and sophomore catcher Jon Theckston (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) both collected two hits to lead a nine-hit Raptor attack.
 
Freshman shortstop Harry Roberson (Arlington, MA/Belmont Hill School) had three of Amherst's 12 hits.
  

In the seven-inning nightcap, Rutgers-Camden again rallied to overcome an Amherst lead, with junior transfer Billy Jackson (Estell Manor, NJ/Buena Regional) earning the win in his first Scarlet Raptor appearance.

 
After Amherst scored an unearned run in the third inning, Rutgers-Camden bounced back with two runs in the fifth to take the lead for good. Ellin opened the frame with a walk and one out later, sophomore second baseman Joe Brooks (Blackwood, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) reached on an error. A ground out advanced both runners and sophomore left fielder Doug Carter (Union, NJ/Union) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Senior designated hitter Adam Bartholomew (Haddon Heights, NJ/Bishop Eustace Prep) followed with a two-run single to center.
 
Romano made it a 3-1 game in the sixth inning, ripping a home run to left-center for the Raptors' first round-tripper of the season.
 
Jackson, meanwhile, was sailing along with a strong outing until running into a jam in the bottom of the seventh. The former All-American out of Camden County College finished with 6-1/3 innings of four-hit ball, allowing two unearned runs, three walks and a hit batsman. He struck out one. In the seventh, a one-out single, a hit batsman and an infield error loaded the bases for Amherst. A walk forced in a run to make it 3-2, but Gaff entered the game to retire the two batters he faced, getting a 1-2 force out at the plate and a grounder to third to end the game.
 
Brooks went 2-for-3 to lead the Raptors' five-hit attack.