DAVENPORT, Fla. (March 14, 2024) –  The Rutgers University-Camden baseball team continued its impressive run at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational here Thursday, pounding out 14 hits and riding six shutout innings by freshman Danny Torres Jr. on the way to an 8-2 victory over UMass-Dartmouth.
 
The win lifts the Scarlet Raptors to 9-4 overall, including 4-1 on their trip to the RussMatt Invitational. UMass-Dartmouth, based in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, falls to 4-6.
 
Junior shortstop Jose Correa paced the offensive attack, going 3-for-4 with one run scored, while five different players delivered two hits apiece: sophomore left fielder Jacob Watson, senior second baseman Danny Vazquez, junior center fielder/first baseman Steven Shaffer, senior third baseman Ryan Nutley and senior right fielder Giacomo Antonicello. Antonicello added three RBIs, while junior first baseman Diego Salazar drove home two runs. Watson had two runs, one RBI and one stolen base at the top of the lineup.
 
The offensive output was more than enough for freshman Torres (1-1), a southpaw who earned his first collegiate win. He pitched six innings of three-hit shutout ball, walking one and striking out four.
 
The Scarlet Raptors took the lead for good in a four-hit first inning, capped by a two-run single from Salazar. In the second, Correa singled and scored on a triple by Watson.
 
A walk by Watson, a passed ball, a stolen base and an RBI single by Vazquez plated another run in the sixth inning and Antonicello singled home a run in the eighth. The Scarlet Raptors' three-run ninth inning included an RBI by senior shortstop Billy Richards, who forced home a run after getting hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and a two-run single by Antonicello.
 
The Scarlet Raptors play two more games on their southern trip, both in Davenport. On Friday, they face Emerson College at 9:45 a.m. They end their trip Saturday with a 1 p.m. game against Bowdoin College.