CAMDEN, N.J. (April 9, 2022) – The Rutgers University-Camden baseball team rode the combined pitching of junior Dylan Wichrowski and sophomore Chase Cooper to a 3-2 victory over Ramapo College here Saturday afternoon, earning a split of their New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader.
 
Ramapo won the opening game, 8-3.
 
The split leaves the Scarlet Raptors at 14-10 overall and 2-3 in the NJAC. The Roadrunners fall to 9-10-1 overall and 2-2 in conference play.
 
The Raptors' win in the nightcap snapped a 10-game losing streak against Ramapo, dating back to the last Rutgers-Camden win in the series, a 6-3 victory in the first game of a twinbill at Ramapo on April 16, 2016.
 
The Scarlet Raptors return to action Monday night with a conference makeup game at 6 p.m. when they host Rutgers-Newark.
   
After Rutgers-Camden scored a first-inning run on an RBI single by senior shortstop Jesse Gerdes, the Roadrunners tied the game in the fourth inning on two hits and a sacrifice fly by senior first baseman Harold Calero.
 
Ramapo took the lead for good with a three-run fifth inning featuring six hits, including a two-run single by junior catcher Sean Donaghue. Rutgers-Camden countered with two runs in the bottom of the frame on an RBI double by junior first baseman Jack Murphy and a run-scoring single by sophomore center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics to make it a 4-3 game, but Ramapo tacked on a pair of runs in both the seventh and ninth innings.
 
Senior pitcher Dan Russo (3-0) earned the win for the Roadrunners, working six innings and allowing seven hits, five walks and three earned runs. He struck out five. Junior Matt Ivanicki picked up his first save with three shutout innings of one-hit ball. He fanned two.
 
Scarlet Raptor starter John Kasper (2-3) took the loss, working six innings and allowing 11 hits, one walk and four earned runs. He struck out two.
 
Freshman third baseman Andrew Brown led the Raptors' eight-hit attack, going 3-for-4 with one run scored. Murphy went 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI.
   
The Scarlet Raptors earned a split of the twinbill as Wichrowski worked five strong innings, allowing four hits and five walks, striking out two and surrendering two earned runs. Cooper (1-0) relieved him in the sixth, worked out of a big jam and hurled no-hit shutout ball over the final four innings, walking one and striking out four.
 
The Raptors took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning with a pair of unearned runs. They took advantage of two errors, two sacrifices and a single by Uzdanovics.
 
Ramapo ripped three straight doubles to open the sixth inning, tying the game, and bringing Cooper into the game. After he hit his first batter and runners were sacrificed to second and third, he worked out of the jam with a fly out and a called third strike.
 
Rutgers-Camden plated the winning run in the bottom of the eighth, sparked by a leadoff single from Uzdanovics. Freshman left fielder Chris Bonafiglia dropped down an intended sacrifice bunt so perfectly that he beat it out for a base hit. After both runners advanced on a balk, junior catcher Jake Guglielmi lined an RBI single to center for the tie-breaking and eventual winning run.
 
Ramapo nearly put the tying run in scoring position to open the top of the ninth, but a wind-blown fly ball to the right-center field gap by Calero was tracked down with a terrific catch by Uzdanovics. Cooper ended the game with a swinging strikeout and a grounder to third.
 
Brown, Murphy and Uzdanovics had two hits apiece for the Scarlet Raptors.