WAYNE, N.J. (April 23, 2022) – The baseball schedule wasn't kind to the Rutgers University-Camden Scarlet Raptors this week, and facing five games against teams that appeared in either the national Top 10 or receiving votes toward the Division III rankings proved difficult to overcome.
 
The Scarlet Raptors dropped a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader here Saturday against William Paterson University, capping a week where they went 0-5 to extend their losing streak to six games. Paterson won the opener, 10-4, and completed its sweep with an 8-0 victory in the nightcap.
 
The Pioneers, who received votes this week toward both the Collegiate Baseball Division III and D3baseball.com polls, improved to 23-11 overall and 9-5 in the NJAC. Rutgers-Camden fell to 17-18 and 4-10.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Tuesday with a 6 p.m. non-conference home game against Cabrini University.
   
The Pioneers broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on two walks, an error and a two-run single by senior designated hitter Dan Carter.
 
William Paterson scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning on a sacrifice fly by grad student first baseman Carson Weis and a run-scoring double by senior right fielder Vinnie Martin. Rutgers-Camden came back to tie the game in the top of the third after walks to junior second baseman Danny Vazquez and sophomore center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics, followed by a bunt single from freshman right fielder Frankie Romond, that produced a run-scoring throwing error. Romond and Uzdanovics pulled off a double steal, with Uzdanovics swiping home to tie the game.
 
Paterson regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the third on a home run by senior third baseman Colin Lombardo and, once again, Rutgers-Camden tied the game in the fourth. Senior left fielder Garrett Warner led off with a single, stole second, advanced on a single by junior shortstop Connor Van Dine and scored on a wild pitch.
 
Both teams added single runs in the sixth inning to make it a 6-4 game, but the Pioneers tacked on four runs in the eighth.
 
Martin went 2-for-2 with two runs and three RBIs for the Pioneers. Romond went 3-for-3 for the Scarlet Raptors, while Van Dine, Vazquez and junior first baseman Jack Murphy all had two hits.
 
Junior Ian Metzger (7-3) worked 5.1 innings to pick up the win, allowing nine hits, three walks and four earned runs. He struck out three. Junior Dan Castaneda earned his first save with 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, while fanning four.
 
Raptor junior Dylan Wichrowski (3-3) took the loss, working 4.1 innings of two-hit ball. He allowed three walks and four runs (three earned), while striking out three.
   
The Pioneers completed their sweep behind the six-hit shutout pitching of senior Jordan Manne (4-1). He walked four and struck out seven.
 
Paterson built a 3-0 lead through six innings and broke the game open with three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth. Carter led the Pioneers' 13-hit attack by going 3-for-4 with one run and two RBIs.
 
Sophomore Chase Cooper (1-1) took the loss for the Scarlet Raptors, working six innings and allowing 10 hits, three earned runs and two walks.
 
Romond went 3-for-4 to account for half of the Scarlet Raptors' hits.