Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (April 21, 2018) – With the New Jersey Athletic Conference regular season dwindling down to its final week, the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team couldn't afford to be swept in a doubleheader here Saturday.
 
After dropping an 8-1 decision to Montclair State University in the opening game, the Scarlet Raptors rallied with six runs over the final four innings of the nightcap to pull out a 7-5 victory and salvage a NJAC split.
 
Rutgers-Camden stands at 20-11 overall and 9-5 in the NJAC, good for third place, a half-game behind 9-4 Rowan University, which plays a makeup game Sunday at conference-leading The College of New Jersey.
 
Montclair State, fighting to get into the top six spots in the NJAC to earn a playoff berth, falls to 18-14 overall and 6-7 in the conference. The Red Hawks sit in seventh place in the conference with five games remaining.
 
The Scarlet Raptors host Misericordia University Sunday in a 1 p.m. non-conference game.  
The Red Hawks broke open a 1-1 contest with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and added a five-run eighth to put the game away.
 
With two outs in the seventh, sophomore Joe Norton ignited the winning rally with a double. He scored on a single by sophomore shortstop Hayden Reyes, who advanced to second on a throw home. Junior left fielder Nick Martinez followed with a RBI single.
 
The Red Hawks plated five runs in the eighth on two errors, a walk, a hit batsman and two hits. The big blow was a bases-clearing double by Martinez, who ended the game going 3-for-5 with five RBIs.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored the first run of the game in the fourth inning after a leadoff triple by senior right fielder Brandon Cornelius (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek), who continued a red-hot week in which he is hitting .700 (14-for-20) in five games. After he was erased on a fielder's choice, sophomore designated hitter Matt Yanick (Palmyra, NJ/Palmyra) doubled and sophomore left fielder John Tedeschi (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) reached on a throwing error that plated a run.
 
Martinez singled home the tying run in the fifth inning.
 
Senior Anthony DeBlasio (2-0) picked up the win, working eight innings and allowing nine hits, no walks and one unearned run. He struck out two. Raptor sophomore Dan Beebe (Berlin, NJ/Eastern Regional) took the loss in relief of junior starter Steven Bloyed (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick). Beebe (1-2) worked 2-1/3 innings, allowing five hits, two walks and seven runs, only three of them earned. He struck out three. Bloyed hurled five innings of five-hit ball, walking two, striking out seven and allowing only one unearned run.
 
Sophomore catcher Tyler Travis (Berlin, NJ/Eastern Regional) and sophomore third baseman Matthew Stoots (Browns Mills, NJ/Pemberton) both went 2-for-4 to lead the Raptors' nine-hit attack.
 
The game marked the 100th career contest for Scarlet Raptor junior second baseman Chris Jones (Washington Township, NJ/Bishop Eustace Prep), who became the 29th player in program history to reach the century mark.
   
Trailing, 3-1, into the sixth inning, the Scarlet Raptors cut the gap to 3-2 on a single by Cornelius, who advanced all the way to third on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on a wild pitch.
 
Rutgers-Camden took the lead for good with a four-run seventh, sparked by a leadoff single by Yanick. Stoots added a one-out single and, following a fielder's choice, Travis loaded the bases when he reached on an error. Freshman first baseman R.J. Concepcion (Audubon, NJ/Audubon) ripped a bases-clearing double down the left field line and scored moments later on a double by Cornelius.
 
Montclair State threatened to tie the game or take another lead in the bottom of the seventh, scoring two runs on three hits and an error, but the Scarlet Raptors wriggled out of a jam with a 6-5 lead intact. They added an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a single by Stoots, a stolen base and a RBI single by Concepcion.
 
Junior Vincent Sturtevant (Audubon, NJ/Audubon) worked four innings in relief of junior starter Drew Zytko (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) to pick up the win. Sturtevant (3-0) allowed three hits and two runs, only one earned, without walking or striking out a batter.
 
Offensively, Cornelius went 4-for-4 with one run and two RBIs, while Concepcion was 2-for-5 with one run and four RBIs. Stoots went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
For the day, Cornelius was 5-for-8 with a double, a triple, one run and two RBIs. Stoots, pictured above, went 4-for-8 with two runs scored.