Box Score

CAMDEN, N.J. (April 24, 2018) – Sophomore third baseman Matthew Stoots (Browns Mills, NJ/Pemberton) drilled a tie-breaking three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team past Moravian College, 7-3, in a non-conference game here Tuesday.
 
The win lifts the Scarlet Raptors to 21-12, while the Greyhounds fall to 18-15.
 
Moments after Moravian plated the tying run in the top of the sixth inning on a RBI single by sophomore right fielder Carmine Palummo, the Scarlet Raptors took the lead back for good. Junior second baseman Chris Jones (Washington Township, NJ/Bishop Eustace Prep) singled to open the Raptor sixth inning. He advanced on a ground out and sophomore designated hitter Matt Yanick (Palmyra, NJ/Palmyra) reached on an error. Stoots followed with a three-run homer to left field, his first of the season and the second homer of his collegiate career.
 
The Scarlet Raptors added an insurance run in the seventh inning on a two-out double by senior right fielder Brandon Cornelius (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek) and an RBI single by Jones.
 
Rutgers-Camden started the game with a two-run first inning, sparked by a leadoff double from freshman center fielder Billy Eisler (Pennsauken, NJ/Camden Catholic). After he was sacrificed to third by sophomore catcher Tyler Travis (Berlin, NJ/Eastern Regional), freshman first baseman R.J. Concepcion (Audubon, NJ/Audubon) was hit by a pitch. That set the stage for Cornelius, whose red-hot week last week (a .667/1.000/.667 slash line) earned him honors as the New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday. Cornelius continued his hot hitting with a two-run double.
 
Moravian tied the game with a pair of runs in the fourth inning, one of them unearned, off Raptor sophomore starter Mike Calabrese (Blackwood, NJ/Highland Regional), but the Scarlet Raptors regained the lead in the bottom of the frame. Sophomore shortstop Nolan Gerold (Merchantville, NJ/Camden Catholic) was hit by a pitch with one out. After Moravian got the second out, sophomore left fielder Wayne Jackson (Sicklerville, NJ/Winslow Township) and Stoots hit back-to-back singles, with Stoots driving home the run.
 
Palummo's single tied the game in the top of the sixth, but junior Vincent Sturtevant (Audubon, NJ/Audubon) relieved Calabrese and worked out of a two-on, two-out jam, setting the stage for Stoots' heroics in the bottom of the frame.
 
Stoots, pictured above, finished the day 3-for-3 with one run and four RBIs, coming on the heels of Sunday's game against Misericordia when he went 4-for-4 with one RBI. He now owns a seven-game hitting streak in which he has gone 16-for-28 (.571) with six multiple-hit games, raising his batting average from .224 to .302.
 
Cornelius and Jones, meanwhile, both went 2-for-4 with one run scored. Cornelius, who had two doubles and two RBIs, now owns 13 doubles this season, three shy of the program's single-season mark. Jones added one RBI.
 
Sturtevant worked 3-1/3 innings of one-hit shutout ball, striking out four, to raise his record to 4-0.
 
The Scarlet Raptors play a non-conference makeup game Wednesday with a 3:30 p.m. start at York College of Pennsylvania. The game was originally scheduled for March 7.