Box Score WINTER HAVEN, Florida (March 17, 2022) – After winning two games in a row in the sunshine state, the Western New England baseball team fell to the Scarlet Raptors of Rutgers-Camden University in an early morning contest on Thursday. With the loss, the Golden Bears fall to 5-2 on the season while the season while the Scarlet Raptors jump over .500 at 7-6.
Records:
- Western New England: 5-2
- Rutgers-Camden: 7-6
How it Happened:
The Golden Bears, who are coming off two consecutive wins, looked to pick up a third straight win on Thursday morning as they took on the Scarlet Raptors of Rutgers-Camden University. Aaron Cole led the Golden Bears off with an opening walk and stole a base before he would be picked off at second to end the inning. SP Ryan Searles went the first two innings in the contest for the Golden Bears, giving up three hits and no runs while walking none and striking out one in the two innings of work.
Rutgers-Camden started their ace as Ethan Pritchett was masterful on the hill for the Scarlet Raptors dialing up nine strikeouts in his six innings of work. The Scarlet Raptors would get on the board in the bottom of the third inning as Jake Gugliemlmi would slash a double, which would then be followed up by a Jack Murphy home run to send the Scarlet Raptors into an early 2-0 lead. Western New England would threat in the top half of the fourth innings, seeing Hunter Schowerer and Cody Waterbury both each on singles, though Pritchett would throw a strikeout to end the threat, and send the inning on the Golden Bears, holding WNE without a run through four innings of play.
Rutgers-Camden would come through with two additional runs in the bottom of the 6th inning as Jesse Gerdes collected a one out single up the middle. The next batter for the Scarlet Raptors would be put aboard via walk, leaving runners on first and second with two outs. A double steal would put the two in scoring position for Camden before Danny Vazquez would clear the bases with a two RBI single, sending Rutgers-Camden to a four-run lead, at 4-0. Western New England would collect their only two runs in the top of the 8th inning when Paul Villecco singled, followed by a two-run home run by CJ Willis, his third home run of the season to cut the Scarlet Raptors lead to two runs, again.
Waterbury would lead the Golden Bears off with a double in the top of the 9th inning, as Western New England needed at least two runs to continue the game. WNE would be unable to push Waterbury to any other base, as Western New England would fall to the Scarlet Raptors by a final score of 4-2.
Around the Diamond:
- Western New England used six pitchers on the morning, with Ryan Searles, David Vignapiano, Kyle Roberts, Troy Donohue, Aidan Gowaski, and CJ Willis making apperances on the hill for WNE.
- Rutgers-Camden used just two pitchers on the morning, as Ethan Pritchett went six innings giving up just three hits and no runs while walking two and striking out nine Golden Bears. Nick Listro picked up his first save of the season after finishing the final three innings, giving up four hits and two runs while striking out three.
- CJ Willis collected his third home run of the season, collecting the only two RBIs for WNE.
Up Next on the Schedule:
- Western New England takes on TCNJ tomorrow, March 18 at 9:15 AM for their final game of spring break.
- The Scarlet Raptors take on Ripon College in Auburndale tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 pm.
