CAMDEN, N.J. (March 28, 2023) – Behind the strong starting pitching of junior Chase Cooper, the Rutgers-Camden baseball team jumped to a four-run lead through five innings on a cold night here Tuesday.
 
It took the outstanding relief work of senior Jared Vega, however, before the Scarlet Raptors nailed down a 6-4 victory over Rosemont College in a non-conference game.
 
Vega entered a 5-4 game with two runs in and two outs in the seventh inning, got his lone hitter on a swinging strikeout to strand the bases loaded, and went on to pitch two more scoreless innings to earn his first save of the season. He allowed one hit in 2.1 scoreless innings, while striking out four. The lone hit came with one out in the ninth inning to bring the tying run to the plate, but the Raptors ended the game with a double play.
 
The victory was the eighth in nine games for the 11-6 Scarlet Raptors. Rosemont fell to 9-8.
 
Cooper (1-1) earned the win with five shutout innings of four-hit ball, walking two and striking out three.
 
The Scarlet Raptors took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning after singles by sophomore left fielder Chris Bonafiglia and freshman right fielder Jacob Watson were sandwiched around a walk to junior shortstop Giacomo Antonicello. With the bases loaded, senior second baseman Danny Vazquez drove home the run on a ground out.
 
The Scarlet Raptors scored three times in the fifth inning on two walks, a hit batsman, two errors and the lone hit of the inning, a two-run single by senior designated hitter Jack Murphy.
 
Rosemont got on the scoreboard with two runs in the sixth inning off junior reliever Joey Rappaport, bunching three straight one-out hits, including a two-run double by sophomore designated hitter David McKinney. Rutgers-Camden countered with a run in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly by sophomore first baseman Andrew Brown, but the Ravens threatened to catch the Scarlet Raptors in the top of the seventh. Two hits, two walks and an error brought home two runs and left the bases loaded before Vega entered the game to wriggle out of the jam with a strikeout.
 
Rutgers-Camden added an insurance run in the bottom of the frame after junior center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics drew a one-out walk. He advanced to second on a passed ball, reached third on an errant pickoff attempt and scored on a sacrifice fly by Antonicello.
 
For the game, Murphy and Watson both had two hits in the Scarlet Raptors' six-hit attack.  A trio of Ravens had two hits apiece as Rosemont collected 10 hits.
 
The Raptors return to action Saturday when they open their New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule with an 11:30 a.m. doubleheader at Kean University.