Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (March 23, 2016) – If you give the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team an opening, the Scarlet Raptors' high-powered offense will usually find a way to break down the door.
 
That was the case here Wednesday when, after being bottled up on two hits for five innings, the Raptors caught a break on a dropped foul pop up to open the sixth inning. Instead of an out, Rutgers-Camden got a leadoff walk and the Scarlet Raptors ended up sending 11 batters to the plate in a seven-run inning that featured five hits, a walk, a hit batsman and three Susquehanna errors. The big frame turned around a three-run deficit as the Scarlet Raptors went on to post a 10-4 non-conference win over the Crusaders.
 
Rutgers-Camden, ranked No. 10 in the latest American Baseball Coaches Association Division III poll and No. 15 in the D3baseball.com Top 25, improves to 9-2 with its fourth straight win. Susquehanna, which saw its seven-game winning streak snapped, falls to 9-7.
 
Everything was working for the Crusaders through five innings, as freshman southpaw Ryan Beckwith (Mount Airy, MD/Lingamore) was spinning a two-hitter while taking a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth. He allowed an RBI single in the first inning by Raptor senior second baseman Brett Tenuto (Audubon, NJ/Gloucester Catholic), which scored junior rightfielder Zach Ellin (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee), who reached on a leadoff walk and stole second base. After that hit, Beckwith retired 11 straight batters until junior designated hitter Doug Carter Jr. (Union, NJ/Union) hit a one-out single in the fifth.
 
The Raptors' 1-0 lead dissolved in the fifth inning when Susquehanna scored four runs – three of them unearned – on four hits and an error behind Raptor senior southpaw Andrew Gottstein (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg). Senior designated hitter Matt Cassinelli (Valhalla, NY/Valhalla) opened the frame with a triple to left center and scored on an error. Later in the frame, sophomore catcher Zach Leone (Pelham, NY/Fordham Prep) had a two-out, two-run single.
 
Trailing, 4-1, the Raptors caught a break when senior third baseman Billy Jackson (Estell Manor, NJ/Buena Regional) hit a foul pop up that was dropped near the line by the Crusaders' first baseman. Given another life, Jackson drew a walk. One out later, junior catcher Jon Theckston (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) reached on an error at shortstop. Junior leftfielder Joe Brooks (Blackwood, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) followed with an RBI single to chase Beckwith, who was the first of three Susquehanna hurlers in the frame. Tenuto greeted freshman hurler Nathan Madden (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison) with an RBI double to right. After senior shortstop Joe Sigismondi (Blackwood, NJ/Highland Regional) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, junior centerfielder Cory Kreamer (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) singled home the tying run. Carter put the Raptors ahead with an RBI single to left center, chasing Madden. Junior first baseman Frank Cerami IV (Lumberton, NJ/Rancocas Valley) kept the line moving against junior hurler John Cooley (South Salem, NY/John Jay). Cerami's single to left plated two runs and both Cerami and Carter moved up another base when the errant relay throw to the plate bounced in the dirt and skipped away for an error. That play set up a sacrifice fly to right by Jackson, plating Carter with the inning's seventh run.
 
The Raptors added two more runs in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Tenuto and an RBI double by Kreamer.
 
Gottstein (2-0) worked eight innings to earn the win, allowing 10 hits and four runs, only one earned. He didn't walk a batter and struck out six.
 
Madden (0-1), who didn't record an out while facing four batters (three hits, one HBP), took the loss. Although all four of his runs were unearned to the team, three were earned on his pitching line.
 
Brooks, Tenuto, Kreamer, Carter and Cerami had two hits apiece for the Scarlet Raptors, with Tenuto driving home three runs and Cerami plating two.
 
Senior rightfielder Justin Cassinelli (Valhalla, NY/Valhalla) went 3-for-4 with one run and one RBI to pace the Crusaders.
 
Susquehanna begins a three-game Landmark Conference series at Juniata College on Friday, with a 3 p.m. game.
 
Rutgers-Camden hosts Johns Hopkins University Saturday in a 1 p.m. game. The Blue Jays received two votes toward this week's D3baseball.com poll and will be the eighth team the Raptors have faced this season that has been either ranked or receiving votes toward a national poll.