CAMDEN, N.J. (April 7, 2023) – The Rutgers University-Camden baseball team has produced great results in its final at bats this week and the Scarlet Raptors were at it again here Friday.
 
Rutgers-Camden literally walked off with a key New Jersey Athletic Conference victory in the 10th inning when sophomore pinch-hitter Diego Salazar drew a bases-loaded walk to defeat Rutgers-Newark, 4-3.
 
The win was the third of the week for the Scarlet Raptors in their final inning. On Monday night, freshman catcher Evan Carbone hit a walkoff double to defeat Cabrini, 7-6. On Tuesday at Keystone College, the Scarlet Raptors scored in the top of the ninth inning on an RBI single by junior shortstop Giacomo Antonicello to defeat the Giants, 9-8.
 
Friday's victory evened the home-and-home series against Rutgers-Newark, which posted an 8-1 win on its home field against the Scarlet Raptors Thursday. Rutgers-Camden improves to 15-8 overall, while Rutgers-Newark drops to 18-6.
 
Both teams are 2-2 in NJAC play.
 
The Scarlet Raptors opened their winning rally on a leadoff single by sophomore third baseman Andrew Brown. Senior designated hitter Jack Murphy was hit by a pitch for the second straight plate appearance, and sophomore first baseman Frankie Romond sacrificed the runners to second and third. Junior center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics was intentionally walked before Newark brought in its third pitcher of the night, in sophomore Vince Taylor. He got the second out of the inning on a shallow fly to left before Salazar drew his RBI walk.
 
The game was tight all the way as a pair of senior right-handers, Camden's John Kasper and Newark's Marcus James, had strong starts. The Scarlet Raptors scored two runs in the third on a two-run double by Romond and Newark tied the game with a pair of unearned runs in the fourth.
 
The Scarlet Raiders grabbed a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning on a single, a stolen base, a sacrifice and a sacrifice fly by freshman center fielder Gilroy Prial.
 
Rutgers-Camden tied the game in the eighth when Brown singled, Murphy was hit by a pitch and Brown advanced to third on a fly to right by Romond. He scored the tying run on a ground out by Uzdanovics.
 
Kasper worked 6.1 strong innings, allowing eight hits, one walk and three runs, only one earned. He struck out four. Senior southpaw Jacob Brennan had a fine 1.2-inning shutout relief stint, allowing one hit and one walk, while striking out one. Freshman Gavin Cunard picked up the win as the final Raptor pitcher, working two shutout innings of two-hit ball. He struck out one and raised his record to 4-1.
 
James worked eight innings of five-hit ball for Rutgers-Newark, allowing three earned runs and three walks, while fanning two. Freshman Denny Furcal (0-1) took the loss, allowing one hit, two walks and one run in 1.1 innings. He struck out two.
 
Brown, Romond and senior second baseman Danny Vazquez had two hits apiece to account for all six Rutgers-Camden hits. For Vazquez, the hits hiked his career total to 98.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to NJAC play Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. doubleheader at Ramapo College.