CAMDEN, N.J. (April 21, 2023) – The saying about it taking a village to achieve a goal could also be applied to the Rutgers University-Camden's baseball victory here Friday.
 
It took numerous heroes to help the Scarlet Raptors rally from a four-run deficit to defeat nationally-ranked Rowan University, 8-7, in a 10-inning New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
 
The victory, coming one day after it lost 17-9 at Rowan, lifts Rutgers-Camden to 20-13 overall and keeps the Scarlet Raptors right in the thick of the NJAC playoff race at 6-6 in the conference.
 
Rowan, ranked 18th in the D3baseball.com Top 25 poll and 20th in the Collegiate Baseball  Division III poll, falls to 22-10 overall and 8-4 in the NJAC.
 
The heroes started with sophomore southpaw Daniel Robeson, who settled down after allowing a two-run first inning to throw shutout ball the next three innings, helping Rutgers-Camden fight back to a 3-2 lead. Rowan then took advantage of four hits, a walk, a hit batsman and an error to score five times in the fifth inning, with four of the runs unearned, to build an 8-7 lead.
 
Robeson ended up pitching seven innings, allowing 10 hits, seven runs (only three earned) and two walks, while striking out two.
 
By that time, other Raptor heroes were coming into play. The Raptors chipped away for a run in the sixth inning on doubles by sophomore left fielder Frankie Romond and senior catcher Jake Guglielmi, making it a 7-4 game.
 
Freshman Owen Davenport turned in  a dominant relief inning in the eighth, sandwiching a fly out between a pair of swinging strikeouts. In the bottom of the frame, the Raptors inched closer when sophomore third baseman Andrew Brown had a leadoff single, senior designated hitter Jack Murphy was hit by a pitch and Romond sacrificed them to second and third. Sophomore first baseman Diego Salazar walked and was replaced by sophomore pinch-runner Sebastian Vega. Guglielmi worked an RBI walk to make it a 7-5 game.
 
In the ninth inning, freshman closer Gavin Cunard, a three-time NJAC Rookie Pitcher of the Week, kept the Raptors in the game with a scoreless frame, setting the stage for the drama in the bottom of the inning. With Rowan's closer on the mound, senior second baseman Danny Vazquez was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Vazquez, who had a sacrifice fly in the first inning to put the Raptors on the board, stole second and junior center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics walked. One out later, Murphy walked to load the bases and Romond followed with a game-tying two-run single to left field.
 
Cunard finished his work with a 1-2-3 10th inning before picking up the win when his teammates plated the deciding run in the bottom of the frame. Junior Billy Richards, who played another outstanding defensive game at shortstop, opened the frame with a double to left field and junior Giacomo Antonicello was inserted as a pinch runner. The Profs intentionally walked freshman right fielder Jacob Watson and Vazquez singled to load the bases. Uzdanovics followed with the game-winning sacrifice fly to center, plating Antonicello.
 
Cunard picked up the win with two innings of one-hit shutout ball to raise his record to 5-1. Romond went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs to lead the 10-hit Raptor attack, while Guglielmi, Richards and Vazquez had two hits apiece. Guglielmi added two RBIs.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Saturday when it hosts William Paterson University in an 11:30 a.m. NJAC doubleheader.