CAMDEN, N.J. (March 31, 2022) – The Rutgers University-Camden and Ursinus College baseball teams had to battle more than each other as they played a non-conference game here Thursday.
 
Rain and strong winds added extra challenges for both teams, but after 20 hits, 10 walks, 10 pitchers, four errors and nearly three hours of playing time, the Scarlet Raptors emerged with a 13-5 victory for their fourth straight win.
 
Rutgers-Camden improves to 11-7, while Ursinus falls to 7-12.
 
Sophomore Nick Diaz picked up his first win as a Scarlet Raptors, evening his record at 1-1 with six strong innings of four-hit ball. He allowed three runs (two earned) and one walk, while striking out seven.
 
Ursinus took an early lead in the third inning on a double by freshman catcher Billy Breslin, who eventually was squeezed home by freshman left fielder Keegan Stem. Rutgers-Camden, however, too the lead in the bottom of the frame, sparked by a leadoff single from sophomore center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics. Freshman right fielder Frankie Romond dropped down a sacrifice bunt and raced all the way to third on an errant throw by senior pitcher Alex Crocamo, which allowed Uzdanovics to score the tying run. Moments later, junior third baseman Connor Van Dine doubled home Romond.
 
The Scarlet Raptors broke the game open with a seven-run fourth inning off three Ursinus pitchers. The inning featured four hits, three walks, a hit batsman, a wild pitch and a passed ball. With one out, junior second baseman Danny Vazquez singled to center field, Uzdanovics walked and Romond was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch allowed all runners to advance, with Vazquez scoring. Van Dine followed with a two-run double to knock out Crocamo and bring in senior Luke Verga. Freshman catcher Andrew Brown delivered an RBI single to center and Verga issued back-to-back walks to junior first baseman Jack Murphy and junior designated hitter Jake Guglielmi, loading the bases for junior pitcher Joey Mullen. The Raptors' senior shortstop Jesse Gerdes drilled a two-run single to center and after everyone advanced on a passed ball, Guglielmi scored on a ground out by senior left fielder Garrett Warner.
 
Ursinus scored twice in the sixth and ninth innings, while Rutgers-Camden tacked on a run in the fifth and its final three runs in the seventh. Brown had an RBI single in the fifth, while singles by Romond and Van Dine, two walks, a hit batsman and an error plated three runs in the seventh. Guglielmi picked up an RBI after getting hit with the bases loaded. Gerdes had an RBI on a grounder to third that ended up scoring a second run on an error.
 
Rutgers-Camden finished with 13 hits, including a 4-for-6 day by Van Dine, who scored twice and knocked home three runs. He raised his team-leading batting average to .422. Brown went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs as he hiked his average to .382. Uzdanovics went 2-for-3 with two runs and Vazquez was 2-for-5 with one run. Gerdes went 1-for-4 with three RBIs.
 
Rutgers-Camden begins its New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday when it entertains national power Kean University in a doubleheader, beginning at 11:30 a.m. The Cougars are currently ranked #15 in the D3baseball.com poll and #27 in the Collegiate Baseball Division 3 poll.