Box Score

YORK, Penn. (May 2, 2018) – Wednesday turned out to be a banner day for the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team from start to finish.
 
In the morning, eight members of the Scarlet Raptors were honored as part of the All-New Jersey Athletic Conference baseball teams for the 2018 season. In the afternoon, several of those all-conference Scarlet Raptors put their talents on display in a 10-7 non-conference victory over York College of Pennsylvania.
 
The win lifted the Raptors to 25-14, while the Spartans fell to 19-17-1.
 
The game, which was originally scheduled for March 7 and kept getting pushed back throughout the season due to weather and field conditions, was a rare regular-season contest in the midst of the Scarlet Raptors' play in the NJAC playoffs. Rutgers-Camden, which lost its conference tourney opener Tuesday, will return to the double-elimination NJAC playoffs Friday at Kean University. The Raptors face top-seeded The College of New Jersey at 3:30 p.m.
 
Against York, the Scarlet Raptors pounded out 16 hits, led by a 4-for-4 performance from senior right fielder Brandon Cornelius (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek), who was honored on the NJAC First Team Wednesday morning. Cornelius, pictured above, ripped a home run, a double and a pair of singles, while walking twice, as he raised his season batting average to .415. He scored two runs and collected four RBIs, giving him team-leading totals of 12 multiple-RBI games and 20 multiple-hit games. He leads the team with 45 RBIs and his 15 doubles are one shy of tying the program's single-season record.
 
Another All-NJAC First Team player, sophomore shortstop Nolan Gerold (Merchantville, NJ/Camden Catholic), went 3-for-5 with a walk and one run, while also adding five assists to hike his season total to 121. He is eight assists shy of the single-season program mark set by Kyle Ballay in 2010.
 
Freshman Mike Paciocco (Deptford, NJ/Deptford), who had appeared in several games both defensively and on the mound, made the start at third base, had his first collegiate at bats and went 3-for-4, adding a walk and one RBI.
 
Two other Scarlet Raptors, junior second baseman Chris Jones (Washington Township, NJ/Bishop Eustace Prep) and sophomore designated hitter Matt Yanick (Palmyra, NJ/Palmyra) both went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Jones, who drilled a solo home run and a single, raised his career hit total to 160 (sixth on the career list) and his career total bases to 210, leaping into eighth place on the all-time list. Yanick, another of the Raptors' All-NJAC First Team players, hit a single and a two-run homer.
 
In a game that featured 28 hits, 12 walks and eight pitchers, Raptor freshman Joseph Sponheimer (Mantua, NJ/Clearview Regional) collected his first collegiate decision with the win, working 1-2/3 innings of four-hit relief. He walked one and allowed one earned run.
 
Senior Peter Han (Millburn, NJ/Millburn) closed out the game with 3-1//3 innings, allowing two hits, one walk and two earned runs. He struck out four while earning the first save in his two years with the Scarlet Raptors.
 
Rutgers-Camden struck for three runs in the third inning to break a scoreless deadlock. Two came on a single by Cornelius, while the Raptors also added an unearned run on an error. York got a run back in the bottom of the fourth on a solo home run by freshman designated hitter Jack Barry, but Jones got that run back in the top of the fifth with a solo home run to left center.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, York scored four runs on three walks, three hits and a wild pitch to take a 5-4 lead. The Raptors answered quickly, however, with a five-run sixth inning that featured two-run homers by both Cornelius and Yanick. Paciocco added a single in the frame to pick up his first collegiate RBI. Cornelius' home run was his team-leading sixth of the season, while Yanick's shot was his second home run.
 
The Raptors added an insurance run in the eighth inning when Yanick reached on an error and stole second. He advanced to third on a single by Paciocco and scored on a wild pitch.
 
The Spartans closed out the scoring in the ninth on a two-run home run by Barry, his second round-tripper of the game. He finished the contest 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs.