AUBURNDALE, Fla. (March 12, 2024) –  The Rutgers-Camden baseball team collected 17 hits and 17 runs in its second game of the day as it defeated SUNY-Oneonta, 17-5, in an eight-inning game at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational here Tuesday.
 
In the first game, the Scarlet Raptors lost to Cornell College, 5-3.
 
The two-game split leaves Rutgers-Camden with an 8-4 record heading into an off day on Wednesday. The Scarlet Raptors return to action Thursday in Davenport, Florida, when they face UMass-Dartmouth (Dartmouth, Massachusetts) at 12:15 p.m.
   
Cornell College (6-2) countered a three-run Rutgers-Camden seventh inning with a three-spot of its own in the bottom of the seventh inning and went on to defeat the Scarlet Raptors, 5-3.
 
Trailing, 3-1, the Rams had a pair of singles from freshman third baseman Cade Parks and junior center fielder Seth Beals. With two outs, junior second baseman Kale Rose launched a three-run home run to right field.
 
Cornell added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning on a solo home run from junior left fielder Vince Zipperer.
 
Rutgers-Camden put the tying runs on base in the top of the ninth inning on a pair of walks before Rose, who came in to close out the game in the ninth inning, worked out of the jam to pick up his second save.
 
Cornell (Mount Vernon, Iowa) had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a pair of hits off Raptor starter junior starter Daniel Robeson, who ended up working five innings of three-hit ball, allowing only one run, while walking three and striking out four. That run, however, held up over the first six innings against Cornell freshman starter Cameron Anderson, who hurled shutout ball (five hits, five walks, nine strikeouts) and stranded nine runners on base during his six-inning stint.
 
Once Anderson left the game, the Scarlet Raptors exploded for three runs, starting with a leadoff walk to sophomore left fielder Jacob Watson and a single by senior second baseman Danny Vazquez, who stretched his hitting streak to eight games. After a wild pitch moved up both runners, senior center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics plated the tying run with a sacrifice fly, moving Vazquez to third in the process. A walk to senior designated hitter and an RBI squeeze bunt by senior third baseman Ryan Nutley gave the Raptors a 2-1 lead. Junior first baseman Steven Shaffer doubled home Murphy with the third run of the frame.
 
Senior Aiden Monce (1-0) earned the win in relief with 1.1 innings of two-hit shutout ball. Raptor senior Jacob Brennan (0-1) took the loss, working two-thirds of an inning and allowing one run and one hit – the home run by Rose – while striking out one.
 
Rose went 3-for-4 with one run and four RBIs for Cornell. Watson was 2-for-3 with two walks, one run and two stolen bases for the Scarlet Raptors. Senior shortstop Billy Richards went 2-for-4 for the Raptors.
   
The Scarlet Raptors exploded for six hits and eight runs in the top of the first inning and went on to defeat the Red Dragons from Oneonta, New York, in a game halted after eight innings by a 10-run rule.
 
Rutgers-Camden opened the game with a single by Watson, Vazquez reaching on an error and both Uzdanovics and Shaffer collecting RBI singles. Nutley and Richards had RBI ground outs, sandwiched around a walk to junior first baseman Diego Salazar. Freshman catcher Julian Gonzalez was hit by a pitch and senior right fielder Giacomo Antonicello and Watson both stroked RBI singles. Vazquez capped the explosion with a two-run single on his way to a huge game. He finished the day going 2-for-4 with one run and six RBIs before being replaced at second base by freshman Austin Dubler, who added a two-run double in the eighth inning to give the Raptors eight total RBIs from the two-hole in the batting order.
 
Antonicello finished the game 5-for-5, including a double, with five runs scored and two RBIs. His five hits were one shy of tying the single-game program record, while his five runs were two shy of the record. The five hits also raised his batting average to a team-leading .483.
 
Watson, meanwhile, had another big game in the leadoff spot, going 4-for-5 with three runs, two RBIs and three stolen bases, giving him five steals for the day. He hiked his career mark to 50 steals, only four shy of tying the program's career record held by Josh Kastrava (1997-2000).
 
Senior Chase Cooper (3-0) picked up the win, working four innings and allowing seven hits, one walk and five runs, four earned. He struck out three. Sophomore Tyler Griswold worked three one-hit scoreless innings, walking one and fanning three, while freshman Cian Phillips struck out the side in the eighth inning to close out the game.