NEWARK, N.J. (April 6, 2023) – The Rutgers University-Newark baseball team scored five runs in the sixth inning to break open its two-run lead and went on to defeat Rutgers University-Camden, 8-1, here Thursday in a New Jersey Athletic Conference game.
 
The loss drops the Scarlet Raptors to 14-8 overall and 1-2 in the NJAC, while the Scarlet Raiders improve to 18-5 and 2-1.
 
Leading, 3-1, Rutgers-Newark bunched five hits, a hit batsman, a passed ball and a sacrifice fly in its sixth-inning explosion, sending nine batters to the plate. Junior third baseman Robert Gonzalez started the big inning with a leadoff double and eventually scored the first run on a bases-loaded single by junior left fielder Connor Baksh.
 
The Scarlet Raiders' sixth inning opened up a pitching duel between the Raptors' junior Joey Rappaport (1-2) and Newark grad student Daniel Reardon (3-0). The Scarlet Raiders scored a first-inning run on a pair of singles and an RBI fielder's choice by Gonzalez, but Rutgers-Camden came back to tie the game in the top of the fourth inning after senior second baseman Danny Vazquez drew a leadoff walk. He moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on an RBI single by sophomore left fielder Frankie Romond.
 
Newark took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. A pair of one-out walks led to a two-run, two-out double by sophomore right fielder Eric Recchia.
 
Rutgers-Camden  collected only five hits off of four Newark pitchers. Junior center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics had three hits, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
 
Rutgers-Camden and Newark will play the back end of their home-and-home NJACW series Friday with a 3:30 p.m. start in Camden.