CAMDEN, N.J. (April 21, 2022) – For the second time in three days, the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team gave a nationally-ranked Top 10 team all it could handle in a tight contest here Thursday.
 
Unfortunately for the Scarlet Raptors, they suffered another close defeat as they fell to Rowan University, 2-1, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
 
The Profs, ranked No. 7 in the D3baseball.com poll and No. 9 in the Collegiate Baseball Division III poll, improved to 23-6 overall and 9-2 in the NJAC.
 
Rutgers-Camden fell to 17-15 overall and 4-7 in the conference. The loss came two days after the Scarlet Raptors lost,  9-5, when Arcadia University scored five times in the eighth inning. Arcadia is ranked No. 6 in the Collegiate Baseball Division III poll and No. 9 in the D3baseball.com poll.
 
The game developed as a terrific pitching duel between Raptor sophomore righty Nick Diaz and Rowan junior southpaw Eli Atiya. Both starters were locked in a 1-1 battle entering the eighth inning, when Rowan scored the deciding run, aided by a wind-blown double off the right field wall by the Profs' 6-foot-7 senior right fielder Ryan Murphy. Murphy's one-out hit ended the night for Diaz, who was relieved by junior Jared Vega. After retiring the next batter, Vega allowed an RBI double to right field by left fielder Ryan Mostrangeli.
 
Diaz (1-2) worked 7.1 innings of five-hit ball, walking two, striking out one and allowing two earned runs.
 
Atiya, meanwhile, worked out of a jam in the eighth inning, allowing a leadoff single to sophomore center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics and a one-out walk to freshman third baseman Andrew Brown before fanning the next two hitters. He finished the game working eight full innings, allowing seven hits, one walk and one earned run. Atiya raised his record to 7-0.
 
Rutgers-Camden threatened again in the ninth inning against Rowan senior closer Christian Bascunan. With one out, senior shortstop Jesse Gerdes singled to right center. One out later, junior second baseman Danny Vazquez singled before Bascunan worked out of the jam with a ground out to earn his seventh save.
 
Rowan scored its first run in the third inning on a home run to left center by Murphy, his eighth round-tripper of the season. Rutgers-Camden tied the game in the bottom of the fourth when its own power-hitting Murphy, junior first baseman Jack Murphy, hit a leadoff double and went to third on a wild pitch. He scored on a single by freshman designated hitter Diego Salazar.
 
Ryan Murphy finished the day 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI for Rowan in the Profs' six-hit attack. Rutgers-Camden collected nine hits, including two apiece by Uzdanovics, Gerdes and Vazquez.
 
The Scarlet Raptors are back in action again Friday, facing Rowan in a 3:30 p.m. NJAC game in Glassboro.