WAYNE, N.J. (April 27, 2024) – The Rutgers University-Camden baseball team was selected by New Jersey Athletic Conference coaches for eighth place out of 10 teams in a pre-season coaches' poll.
 
On the last day of the season here Saturday, the Scarlet Raptors still had a chance to win the regular-season crown before they finished as the fourth seed for the upcoming NJAC playoffs. Rutgers-Camden split with William Paterson University, winning 12-7 in the opener before losing the nightcap, 7-3.
 
The split left the Raptors with a 26-13 record overall and an 11-7 mark in the NJAC. Rutgers-Camden and Ramapo both had 11-7 conference marks but since they split two games during the season, the second tie-breaker was head-to-head from the top of the conference on down. Since Ramapo split with regular-season champion Stockton and Rutgers-Camden lost both games to the Ospreys, Ramapo earned the playoff third seed.
 
NJAC Playoff Bracket
 
Rutgers-Camden will travel to Ramapo for a first-round game Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament before hosting the rest of the NJAC playoffs next weekend.
 
Paterson finished its season with a 6-12 mark in the NJAC and an 11-27 record overall.
   
In a wild game that saw Rutgers-Camden take a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning only to have Paterson rally to a 7-6 advantage after six innings, the Scarlet Raptors scored two runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead for good. They added a run in the eighth and three in the ninth for the final margin.
 
In the top of the seventh, senior designated hitter Jack Murphy opened the frame by reaching on an infield error. Senior shortstop Billy Richards and senior center fielder Auggie Uzdanovics walked to load the bases before sophomore catcher Evan Carbone delivered a two-rum single to center, putting the Raptors on top to stay.
 
Two hits, including an RBI double by senior right fielder Giacomo Antonicello, plated an eighth-inning run and the Raptors scored three times in the ninth on four hits. A walk to Uzdanovics and a double by Carbone set up the inning. Senior second baseman Danny Vazquez squeezed home one run, junior right fielder/first baseman Steven Shaffer doubled home one run and a single by Antonicello plated the other one.
 
Rutgers-Camden exploded for four runs on three hits and two hit batsmen in the third inning to break open a scoreless game. The Scarlet Raptors loaded the bases after a leadoff single by Uzdanovics. Carbone was hit by a pitch and, one out later, Vazquez singled to put three runners on base for Shaffer, who promptly laced a three-run double to left center field and advanced to third base on the throw home. After junior first baseman Diego Salazar was hit by a pitch, senior third baseman Ryan Nutley squeezed home Shaffer with the fourth run.
 
William Paterson answered with three runs in the bottom of the third on a single, a walk and a three-run home run by senior center fielder Jake Lutz.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored twice in the fifth inning on a two-run home run by Murphy, giving him 20 for his career, one shy of the program record. Paterson, however, scored four times on two hits, two hit batsmen, a walk and an error in the sixth inning to take its only lead of the game.
 
Shaffer finished the game 4-for-5 with three runs and four RBIs, while Carbone was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Antonicello was 2-for-2 with two RBIs.
 
Sophomore Tyler Griswold picked up the win in two innings of relief, raising his record to 2-0.
   
In the second game, the Pioneers broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the fourth inning and went on to win their final game of the season. William Paterson used three hits in the decisive inning, with the big blow being a two-run single by junior right fielder Giovanni Aresta.
 
The Pioneers added single runs in the fifth and seventh innings, while the Scarlet Raptors scored once in both the sixth inning and the eighth inning, cutting the gap to 5-3. The eighth-inning run came on a home run by junior shortstop Jose Correa.
 
Paterson scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning on RBI singles by Lutz and freshman first baseman Ty Kobylakiewicz.
 
Shaffer and Nutley had two hits apiece in Rutgers-Camden's nine-hit attack.