CAMDEN, N.J. (March 21, 2023) – During the last four games of its spring break trip, the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team trounced opponents while scoring 54 runs.
 
The Scarlet Raptors proved here Tuesday that they also can win the close games.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as it snapped a 3-3 tie and went on to defeat Swarthmore College, 5-3, in its first game back on campus. The Scarlet Raptors' fifth straight win, which lifted their record to 8-5, also was the first career victory for freshman righty Gavin Cunard.
 
Cunard worked 3.2 one-hit shutout innings, walking two and striking out three, as he evened his record at 1-1. He worked out of a one-out jam in the ninth inning with the tying runs on base by a walk and a single, picking off a pinch-runner at first base and ending the game with a ground out to second base.
 
Cunard relieved junior starter Joey Rappaport with one out in the sixth inning and stranded a runner, keeping the game close with Swarthmore nursing a 3-2 lead. Rappaport worked 5.1 strong innings, allowing six hits and three runs (only two earned), while striking out four without walking any batters.
 
With the score tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth, sophomore first baseman Andrew Brown hit a leadoff double for his second two-bagger of the game. He advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Swarthmore pitcher Noah Potholm (0-1), who took the loss after 4.2 innings of work, allowing five hits and three earned runs. He didn't walk any batters and struck out three.
 
Brown scored the tying run on a one-out single to right-center by junior center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics, who let his legs carry him the rest of the way around the bases. Uzdanovics stole second and, after sophomore Chris Bonafiglia was hit by a pitch, Uzdanovics stole third. The pair finished the scoring with a double steal, with Uzdanovics swiping home as Bonafiglia stole second.
 
Rutgers-Camden tallied a first-inning run on a two-out walk to sophomore Frankie Romond, who scored on Brown's double down the right field line. Rappaport held that 1-0 lead until the third, when a hit batsman, a stolen base and an infield error led to an unearned run.
 
Rutgers-Camden bounced back with a run in the bottom of the third on a Romond single, a walk and a wild pitch during a strikeout, which loaded the bases for a RBI walk to sophomore third baseman Diego Salazar.
 
The Garnet (7-8) scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings on a fielder's choice and a ground out, respectively, to take a 3-2 lead, but the Scarlet Raptors tied the game in the seventh inning. Freshman catcher Evan Carbone hit a one-out single and scored on a double by freshman right fielder Jacob Watson. That double extended his current team-leading hitting streak to six games.
 
Brown and Carbone collected two hits apiece for the Scarlet Raptors.
 
Rutgers-Camden will return to action with a rescheduled game that has been moved to a home contest Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Instead of traveling to Immaculata University on Friday, the Raptors will host the Mighty Macs Thursday.