Ewing, NJ… The College of New Jersey baseball team was defeated by Rutgers-Camden on Friday afternoon in a New Jersey Athletic Conference match-up by a final score of 1-0. With the loss the Lions record drops to 12-4 and 2-2 in the conference, while the Scarlet Raptors improve to 12-5 and 4-0 in the NJAC.

The Scarlet Raptors had an opportunity score in the top of the fourth inning. With a runner on second and third, Zachary Shindler (Wantagh, NY/Wantagh) scooped up a grounder and gunned down the runner heading to the plate. The next batter, they pushed a run over as Nolan Gerold singled to center field. In the top of the sixth inning, the Scarlet Raptors had a man on second and got a base hit, however Jacob Simon (Hightstown, NJ/Hightstown) came up throwing and delivered a laser to catcher David Cardona III (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) who applied the tag to nail the runner and end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Mike Follet (Marlton NJ/Cherokee) kept the Lions alive as he knocked a blooper that dropped inside of the right field line, and hustled into second and just beat the tag. However, the Lions could not tie the game up and the Scarlet Raptors held onto the win.

Despite receiving the loss, starting pitcher Michael Fischer (Robbinsville, NJ/Robbinsville) was terrific on the mound. He threw a complete game, and only allowed one earned run on seven hits. Fischer struck out seven batters, and had control of the strike zone as he only walked one. 

Shindler went 2-4 with a double, and Tommy McCarthy (Allentown, NJ/Allentown) also collected two hits.

Next up for the Lions is another NJAC game, this time a double dip against Ramapo College on Sunday, April 8th at home with the first pitch of game one slated for 11:30 am. Sunday is also the Lions' military day and family day.