Box Score

UNION, N.J. (May 2, 2015) – Early in the week, the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team was dropped into the losers' bracket of the New Jersey Athletic Conference Baseball Championships with an opening-game loss to The College of New Jersey.
 

The top-seeded Scarlet Raptors got their chance for revenge in the losers' bracket final and they turned the tables by eliminating the sixth-seeded Lions, 7-3, here Saturday. It was the Scarlet Raptors' second win of the day, following a 2-1 victory over Ramapo College in the morning, and it moved Rutgers-Camden into the NJAC finals.
 
Rutgers-Camden (24-15) will face Kean University, which swept through the winners' bracket, at noon on Sunday. If the Scarlet Raptors win, they will have to beat the Cougars in another game, immediately afterward, in order to capture the crown.
 
After losing early leads of 2-0 and 4-2 in a 9-4 home playoff loss to TCNJ Tuesday, the Scarlet Raptors built another quick 2-0 lead and kept on scoring Saturday. The Raptors opened the second inning with back-to-back singles by senior designated hitter Adam Bartholomew (Haddon Heights, NJ/Bishop Eustace Prep) and junior second baseman Billy Jackson (Estell Manor, NJ/Buena Regional). When senior first baseman Connor Hall (Delran, NJ/Delran) reached on a throwing error on his sacrifice bunt, Bartholomew scored. Sophomore shortstop Pedro Perez (Burlington, NJ/Burlington City) walked to load the bases and the Raptors tacked on a second run when sophomore right fielder Zach Ellin (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) hit into a double play.
 
In the fourth inning, Hall singled and advanced on a one-out passed ball. Ellin and junior third baseman Brett Tenuto (Audubon, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) walked to load the bases. Sophomore catcher Jon Theckston (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) followed with a bases-clearing triple to right center, then scored on a single by sophomore left fielder Joe Brooks (Blackwood, NJ/Gloucester Catholic).
 
TCNJ cut its deficit in half with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth, but that was all the Lions managed off freshman hurler Carter Fichter (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial), who hurled a complete game to raise his record to 3-2. Fichter allowed six hits and three runs, with only one of them being earned. He didn't walk a batter and struck out seven.
 
Rutgers-Camden tacked on its final run in the ninth on a one-out double by senior center fielder Bobby Romano (Vineland, NJ/Vineland) and a RBI single by Bartholomew.
 
Brooks, Bartholomew and Hall each collected two hits for the Scarlet Raptors, while Theckston had three RBIs with his one hit, a triple. Tenuto walked three times in the leadoff spot and scored one run, while Ellin went 1-for-2 with two walks and one run scored.