GLASSORO, N.J. (April 30, 2026) – The top-seeded Rowan University baseball team broke open a tie game with a seven-run fifth inning and went on to eliminate fifth-seeded Rutgers University-Camden, 13-4, here Thursday to eliminate the defending champions in the New Jersey Athletic Conference semifinals.
Rutgers-Camden, which won the 2025 NJAC title, closed its season at 19-22.
Rowan, ranked fifth nationally this week in both the D3baseball.com and the NCAA Division III Baseball Coaches polls, improved to 30-5 and will host sixth-seeded William Paterson University this weekend in a best-of-three championship series. Paterson shocked second-seeded Montclair State University, 9-2, in Thursday's other semifinal game, two days after eliminating third-seeded Kean University in the quarterfinals.
Rowan defeated Rutgers-Camden twice during the NJAC regular season, 11-8 in Camden on April 9 and 29-11 in Glassboro on April 10, but the two teams were deadlocked at 4-4 going to the bottom of the fifth inning Thursday. Rowan loaded the bases with nobody out on an error, a walk and a hit batsman before senior first baseman Nick Struble walked to force home the eventual winning run. After a pitching change, freshman third baseman Brett Chiesa had a two-run single. A bunt single and a fly out followed before sophomore center fielder Evan McCoach hit a two-run double. He scored on a two-run single by sophomore left fielder Damon Suriani.
Rowan wrapped up its scoring with two runs in the eighth inning.
Prior to the Profs' big inning, the game was a tight one. Rowan scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning on four hits, but Rutgers-Camden kept fighting back with single runs in the second through fifth innings. A run-scoring single by sophomore third baseman
Michael McGinley put the Raptors on the board in the second inning and they cut the gap to 3-2 in the third inning. Junior second baseman
Austin Dubler singled, stole second base, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a wild pitch.
The Scarlet Raptors tied the game in the top of the fourth inning when McGinley reached on an error, advanced on a wild pitch, moved to third on a sacrifice and scored on a ground out by sophomore right fielder
Gavin McCaffrey.
Rowan regained the lead with a run in the bottom of the fourth before the Scarlet Raptors once again tied the game. In the top of the fifth, a two-out walk to sophomore first baseman
Ryan Joseph sparked the tying rally. Joseph advanced on a wild pitch and a passed ball before scoring on a single by sophomore shortstop
Chris Smith.
With the game knotted at 4-4, however, Rowan exploded with its decisive seven-run rally.
McCoach, Chiesa, junior shortstop Brayden Davis and senior right fielder Mason Dorsey had two hits apiece for the Profs, while Struble drove home three runs.
Sophomore Evan Brasberger (3-0), the second of six Rowan pitchers, earned the win with 1.2 innings of one-hit ball. He walked one and allowed one earned run.
Junior
D.J. Juliano (3-5) took the loss for Rutgers-Camden, allowing four runs (three earned) in two-thirds of an inning.
Rutgers-Camden collected only five singles off the Rowan staff, although the Raptors walked five times and were hit on four occasions.
Junior center fielder
Jacob Watson finished the season by reaching base 21 times as a hit batsman, a new program record. McCaffrey was right behind him with 20 HBP. Watson also extended his program career record to 107 stolen bases.
Dubler finished with 49 runs scored, two shy of tying the single-season program record, while Smith's 128 assists were three shy of tying another program record. He also led the club in steals this season with 31 and moved into second place on the program's career list with 66.
