UNION, N.J. (April 28, 2019) – The regular-season tour of "home" fields ended here Sunday for the Rutgers-Camden baseball team as the Scarlet Raptors were forced to play their final New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader of the season at Kean University against visiting Ramapo College.
 
Things didn't get any better on a rain-delayed day as the Roadrunners swept the Scarlet Raptors, 11-7 and 23-6, in a twinbill that featured 47 urns, 66 hits and nearly seven hours of playing time.
 
The Raptors' home schedule, made necessary by the demolition of their Camden-based Campbell's Field, included five different sites, capped by Kean University, a change in venue that was made necessary by Friday's flooding that forced the scheduled Saturday doubleheader away from Rowan University. In addition to the Profs' field, the Raptors also played home games this season at the Maplezone Sports Institute in Aston, Penn., Rowan College at Gloucester County and Camden County College.
 
The final venue and results put a damper on the Scarlet Raptors' Senior Day for Steven Bloyed, Chris Jones, Ian Scheidemann, Vince Sturtevant and Drew Zytko, and left Rutgers-Camden needing help on Monday to earn the sixth and final NJAC playoff berth. Oddly, that help needs to come from Ramapo: if the Roadrunners beat Rutgers-Newark, the Scarlet Raptors are in the NJAC playoffs, no matter what they do in their Monday makeup game at The College of New Jersey. If Newark wins, they will own a tie-breaker over the Raptors, by virtue of beating a higher-ranked team, and will reach the playoffs.
 
The twinbill sweep leaves Ramapo at 23-11 overall and 13-4 in the NJAC, while Rutgers-Camden falls to 17-20 and 8-9.
   
The Roadrunners grabbed a 6-1 lead through 4-1/2 innings before Rutgers-Camden tied the game with a five-run bottom of the fifth. That rally was capped by a game-tying grand slam from junior designated hitter Matt Yanick. Yanick finished his day 2-for-4 with one run and five RBIs for the Scarlet Raptors, but Ramapo first baseman Kellen Hardy offset that production by going 4-for-4 with two runs, seven RBIs and 10 total bases. Hardy ripped three doubles and a home run.
 
Hardy's bases-clearing double in the seventh inning broke the 6-6 tie and he scored Ramapo's fourth run of the frame on a double by right fielder Matt Carovillano.  
 
In addition to Yanick, first baseman Jones and sophomore left fielder R.J. Concepcion both added two hits for the Scarlet Raptors.
 
Ramapo's 15-hit attack was paced by Hardy, while catcher Liam Duffy and left fielder Kyle Buser both added three hits.
   
The Roadrunners scored three times in the first inning and put the game away in the second with an eight-hit, nine-run frame. The inning featured a two-run double from shortstop Anthony Kuzmenko, who finished the game with six RBIs, including a seventh-inning grand slam. Buser ripped a wo-run triple in the second inning and kept on hitting throughout the game, going 5-for-7 game, including two doubles and two triples. He nearly hit for the cycle, but pulled two home run-distance balls foul late in the contest.
 
Trailing 12-0, the Raptors got four runs back in the second inning, aided by five hits, a hit batsman and an outfield error, but Ramapo's offense completed its day with 25 hits, including seven players with multi-hit games.
 
Rutgers-Camden junior catcher/shortstop Tyler Travis (pictured above) went 4-for-5 with one run and two RBIs in the game to pull within one of his career 100th hit. Jones went 3-for-6 with two RBIs, collecting two doubles to hike his career total to 43 two-baggers. He is three shy of tying the program's career mark held by Brian Murphy (2001-04).