Box Score

Ewing, NJ … Senior Robert Graber (Franklin Lakes, NJ/Ramapo) tossed the second complete-game shutout of his career as The College of New Jersey defeated Rutgers-Newark 9-0 for its fifth straight victory.
 
The Lions (11-9, 4-0 NJAC) remained perfect in New Jersey Athletic Conference play winning as it took Graber just 82 pitches to toss nine scoreless innings. He limited the Scarlet Raiders (6-15, 1-3 NJAC) to four hits, struck out six, and walked none.
 
The top five hitters in the line-up certainly did its job offensively going a combined 13-for-21 with five runs batted in. Seniors Scott Kelly (West Windsor, NJ/West Windsor-North) and Michael Murphy (Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Tech) each collected three hits in the game as did sophomore Anthony Cocuzza (Absecon, NJ/St. Augustine Prep).
 
Freshman Garen Turner (Hainesport, NJ/Rancocas Valley) belted his first collegiate home run and tripled, while center fielder Joe Dispoto (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) also tripled and had two hits on the day.
 
After being held to three runs in their win yesterday, TCNJ came out swinging in the first. They scored three runs on four hits to take command of the contest. Turner knocked a ball off the center-field fence for an RBI-triple to put TCNJ on the board. Run-scoring singles by Murphy and Michael Murray (Turnersville, NJ/Phillipsburg) gave the Lions a 3-0 lead in the first.
 
Two more runs in the second made it a 5-0 game. Sophomore Jake DeWitt (Florence, NJ/Florence) was hit by a pitch and later came around to score on a passed ball. Scott Kelly singled to right field to drive in freshman Mark Mari (Bayonne, NJ/Seton Hall Prep), who had singled to left and the Lions accrued a five-run cushion for Graber.
 
The 6' 5" right-hander dominated the Scarlet Raider line-up. He never encountered any real pressure throughout the game as no baserunners reached second base until the sixth inning. Graber faced only 31 batters in the game and was touched for just four singles. He registered his first mound victory of the season and first shutout since April 25, 2011 when blanked William Paterson University 10-0.
 
Dispoto led off the seventh with a triple. Turner then stepped up and delivered a long, two-run blast over the trees in left-center field. An RBI-groundout by Murray capped the scoring, and the Lions pocketed their fourth straight conference win.
 
Matt Larangera had two hits for Rutgers-Newark. Brian Kokos and Graham Commesso also had singles for the Scarlet Raiders.
 
With the three hits, Kelly now has 198 in his career. Only nine players in program history have ever reached the 200-hit plateau. Blake Bullis '07 holds the all-time record with 238 career hits.
 
The Lions continue conference play on Saturday, squaring off against Kean University in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m. in Union, NJ.