Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (April 22, 2016) – The biggest week of the season starts Saturday for the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team if the Scarlet Raptors plan to return to the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs.
 
Rutgers-Camden saw its post-season drive take another hit here Friday as the Scarlet Raptors were blanked, 4-0, by nationally-ranked The College of New Jersey in a big NJAC game. The loss drops the Raptors to 5-7 in the conference with six NJAC games remaining, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Saturday when they host New Jersey City University in a doubleheader.
 
Rutgers-Camden, which fell to 18-11 overall with its second loss against TCNJ in as many days, stands in seventh place in the conference. The Raptors are one game behind sixth-place William Paterson University, which holds the tie-breaker over the Rutgers-Camden by virtue of a doubleheader sweep April 2. The top six teams make the NJAC tournament, which begins May 3.
 
TCNJ, which is ranked No. 12 in the ABCA poll and No. 15 in the D3baseball.com poll, improved to 26-4 with its 12th consecutive win. The Lions lead the NJAC with a 10-2 record.
 
Rutgers-Camden managed only four hits off Lions starter Eric Teesdale (Stratford, NJ/Sterling) over eight innings as the senior righty kept the Raptors off-balance with his breaking ball throughout the game. Teesdale (3-1) walked five and struck out four in his eight-inning stint before sophomore Matt Curry (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) closed out the shutout in the ninth inning, allowing two hits and striking out one.
 
Senior southpaw Andrew Gottstein (Bloomsburg, NJ/Bloomsburg) was the tough-luck losing pitcher, allowing seven hits and three runs, only one earned, in seven innings. Gottstein (3-3) walked one and struck out seven.
 
TCNJ scored the only run Teesdale needed in the first inning on a one-out double by sophomore third baseman Patrick Anderson (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central) and an RBI single by senior rightfielder Patrick Roberts (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough).
 
That run was the only tally in the game until the seventh inning, when a single and a walk set the stage for a two-out outfield error, plating both runs. The Lions added their final run in the eighth on a home run by Roberts, his fifth of the season.
 
Roberts went 3-for-4 with one run and two RBIs to lead the TCNJ offense. Junior second baseman Ben Varone (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) went 2-for-3 with one run scored.
 
Rutgers-Camden's six-hit attack was paced by freshman shortstop Chris Jones (Sewell, NJ/Bishop Eustace Prep), who went 2-for-4.