DAVENPORT, Fla. (March 16, 2024) –  Senior Ethan Carpenter pitched 6-2/3 strong innings and received excellent relief work from sophomore Gavin Cunard and junior Daniel Robeson as the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team wrapped up its trip to the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational Saturday with a 6-5 win over Bowdoin College.
 
The Scarlet Raptors finished their seven-game spring break trip with a 6-1 record in Florida, marking their most successful trip since going 10-0 during the 2002 visit to Florida. Rutgers-Camden brings an 11-4 record and a four-game winning streak back north, where it will be idle until Sunday, March 24, when it plays a doubleheader at Ursinus College.
 
Bowdoin College (Brunswick, Maine) is 5-4, including a 3-3 mark in Florida.
 
In addition to its team success, Rutgers-Camden didn't take long to make a mark on program history. Sophomore left fielder Jacob Watson was hit by a pitch leading off the bottom of the first inning. He promptly stole second base to give him 54 career steals, tying the program mark set by Josh Kastrava between 1997-2000.
 
Watson scored on a single by senior second baseman Danny Vazquez, who advanced all the way to third on an outfield error and scored on a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Ryan Nutley.
 
Bowdoin scored a pair of unearned runs in the second inning and the score stayed knotted at 2-2 until the bottom of the fifth, when Rutgers-Camden took the lead for good. Watson singled and advanced on a ground out and a balk. Nutley was hit by a pitch and junior designated hitter Steven Shaffer stroked an RBI single. Nutley later scored on an error.
 
Bowdoin cut the gap to 4-3 in the top of the sixth on a hit batsman and an RBI triple by senior second baseman CJ Brito-Trinidad. The Scarlet Raptors, however, countered with two runs in the bottom of the frame, starting with a one-out walk to sophomore catcher Evan Carbone. He advanced on a ground out and scored on a double by Watson, who later came around to score on a pair of wild pitches.
 
The Polar Bears again cut the gap to one run, scoring twice in the seventh inning on three hits and a strikeout passed ball. Cunard relieved Carpenter and ended the threat with a strikeout. He went on to work 1.1 innings of one-hit shutout ball, with one strikeout and one walk. Carpenter finished his 6.2-inning start allowing six hits and one walk, while fanning six. Only two of his five runs allowed were earned.
 
Robeson earned his first save with a perfect ninth inning, with a ground out sandwiched between a pair of swinging third strikes.
 
Watson, Vazquez and Shaffer had two hits apiece for Rutgers-Camden, with Watson scoring three runs.