GLASSBORO, N.J. (April 22, 2022) – When the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team played nationally-ranked Rowan University on Thursday in Camden, the Scarlet Raptors shut down the powerful Profs offense, yet still suffered a 2-1 defeat.
 
It was a different story here Friday in a rematch between the two New Jersey Athletic Conference opponents.
 
Rowan exploded for four runs in the bottom of the first inning and went on to defeat the Scarlet Raptors, 10-2.
 
The Profs, ranked No. 7 in the D3baseball.com poll and No. 9 in the Collegiate Baseball Division III poll, improved to 24-6 overall and 10-2 in the NJAC.  Rutgers-Camden fell to 17-16 overall and 4-8 in the NJAC.
 
Rowan pounced on Raptor junior starter John Kasper for four runs in the first inning, using five hits and a pair of hit batsmen along the way. Junior shortstop Chris Curcio was hit by a pitch, but was thrown out on the bases on a single by senior right fielder Ryan Murphy, who advanced to second on the play. Murphy scored on a single by sophomore designated hitter Patrick Defeciani. Grad student left fielder Ryan Mostrangeli ripped a two-run home run to make it a 3-0 game. After a double by sophomore first baseman Dylan Maria and another hit batsman, grad student center fielder Trip McCaffrey singled home the fourth run.
 
The Profs added four runs in the fourth inning, three of them unearned, sparked by a leadoff double from senior catcher Hunter Wroniuk. He scored when freshman third baseman Marco Mannino singled. Mannino stole second and scored on a single by Curcio. With two outs, Defeciani singled. Both Mostrangeli and sophomore second baseman Anthony Schooley added RBI singles.
 
Kasper (2-4) ended up working four innings, allowing 10 hits, two hit batsmen and eight runs (five earned). He struck out five.
 
Rutgers-Camden finally broke the shutout pitching by Rowan junior Jason O'Neill in the sixth inning after sophomore center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics walked, freshman right fielder Frankie Romond singled and the runners advanced on a wild pitch. Freshman third baseman Andrew Brown plated the run with a ground out.
 
The Raptors added another run in the seventh on a one-out error, a pinch-hit single by senior Garrett Warner and an RBI fielder's choice by junior second baseman Danny Vazquez. Rowan bounced back with two runs on two hits and one error in the bottom of the seventh.
 
O'Neill (6-1) worked 6.2 innings, allowing four hits, four walks and two runs, one of them unearned. He struck out two.
 
Wroniuk paced the Profs' attack, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs. Mostrangeli went 2-for-5 with one run and three RBIs, while Defeciani was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.
 
Rutgers-Camden managed only four singles by four separate players. Uzdanovics went 1-for-3 with one run and two walks at the top of the lineup.
 
The Scarlet Raptors face another tough NJAC opponent Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. doubleheader at William Paterson University.