CAMDEN, N.J. (March 2, 2012) – Junior right-hander James Bardenett (Syracuse, NY/Henninger) worked seven strong innings and sophomore righty Justin McCarthy (Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland) worked out of an eighth-inning jam and went on to earn a save as SUNY-Brockport edged Rutgers University-Camden, 2-1, in a non-conference baseball game Friday at Campbell's Field.
The Golden Eagles improved to 4-0, while the Scarlet Raptors fell to 0-3.
Brockport collected the only run it would get against Raptor sophomore righty Tommy Potts (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown Regional) when it scored in the first inning. Junior shortstop Jake Coleman (Hilton, NY/Hilton) pulled the first pitch of the game to left field for a single and stole second. He advanced to third on a single to right field by junior third baseman Mike Weakley (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool). Junior catcher Nick Bunce (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) plated the run with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Potts went on to pitch seven strong innings, allowing only five hits, two walks and the one earned run, while striking out three. Bardenett, however, hurled three-hit shutout ball for seven innings, walking two and striking out four, as he raised his record to 2-0.
Potts fell to 0-1 despite his second outstanding start of the season. In 15 innings of work he has allowed seven hits, four walks and three earned runs for a 1.80 ERA. He has struck out 16, including 13 in an eight-inning no-decision during his season opener
Both teams finally broke through the relief pitching for a run in the eighth. Brockport senior second baseman Corey Booth (Middletown, NY/Minisink Valley) reached on a one-out infield error and stole second base. Following a walk and a strikeout, sophomore leftfielder Pete Wilson (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit) drove him home with a single to center.
Rutgers-Camden finally got on the board in the bottom of the eighth after junior centerfielder Bruce Monro (Matawan, NJ/Matawan) singled to right-center and advanced on a wild pitch. He scored on a one-out single to right by senior second baseman Jon Hydock (Medford, NJ/Shawnee). A pair of walks loaded the bases for the Raptors when McCarthy was summoned from the bullpen with one out. He collected a called third strike and a grounder to second base to wriggle out of the jam.
In the bottom of the ninth, junior Albert Rivera (Matawan, NJ/Matawan Regional) opened with a single to center for the Scarlet Raptors. He was sacrificed into scoring position by senior shortstop Joe Merlino (Pine Hill, NJ/Overbrook Regional), but McCarthy ended the game with a pair of infield popups.
Weakley was the lone Golden Eagle to collect multiple hits, going 2-for-4. For the Scarlet Raptors, Hydock was 2-for-4 with one RBI and Monro went 2-for-5 with one run scored.
Brockport will play a 1 p.m. non-conference game Saturday at Kean University. Rutgers-Camden will host John Jay College of Criminal Justice in a non-conference game Thursday at 3 p.m.