AUBURNDALE, Fla. (March 17, 2013) – Freshman Steve Keane (Mantua, NJ/Clearview Regional) singled home the eventual winning run in the top of the 15th inning as the Rutgers University-Camden baseball team outlasted nationally-ranked Western New England University, 7-6, in its opening game here Sunday at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

In a game that took 5:02 to play and featured 28 hits, 17 walks, five hit batsmen and six errors, the Scarlet Raptors were able to raise their record to 6-3 against a team which is ranked No. 15 nationally this week in the D3baseball.com Top 25 poll.

The Golden Bears, who fall to 5-2, had defeated another team from the New Jersey Athletic Conference earlier in the day with a 4-1 win over William Paterson University.

The two teams were tied at 6-6 after Western New England scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth, and matched scoreless frames until the top of the 15th, when senior leftfielder Bruce Monro (Matawan, NJ/Matawan Regional) was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Freshman Alex Bright (Sarasota, FL/Riverview) was inserted as a pinch-runner, but he was cut down at the plate on a double by junior rightfielder Adrian Gonzalez (Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken). Gonzalez took third on the play. That brought up Keane, who had been inserted in the game as a defensive replacement in the 11th inning and had grounded out in his 13th-inning at bat. On his second at bat, Keane singled up the middle to plate Gonzalez with the go-ahead run.

Junior Paul Walters (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester), the fourth pitcher of the day for the Scarlet Raptors, made that run stand up, allowing only an infield single in the bottom of the frame to pick up his first decision of the season. Walters (1-0) worked the final two shutout innings, allowing two hits and one walk, while striking out one.

Rutgers-Camden scored twice in the first inning on a RBI single by senior first baseman Dave Prager (Deptford, NJ/Deptford) and a sacrifice fly by sophomore designated hitter Connor Hall (Delran, NJ/Delran).

After loading the bases in the second on a hit batsman and two infield singles, the Raptors plated another run when Monro walked to force home senior catcher Shaune Collins (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East). Collins had opened the frame as a hit batsman.

Three hits and a sacrifice fly helped the Golden Bears plate a pair of fourth-inning runs to cut the gap to 3-2, but Rutgers-Camden scored three times in the seventh to make it a 6-2 game. Prager singled home the first run of the frame and junior second baseman George Spingler (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) ripped a two-run home run to left field.

Nursing a 6-2 lead, Raptor junior starter Ryan Farabella (Vineland, NJ/Buena Regional) saw the leadoff Western New England batter reach second base on an infield throwing error in the eighth. The Golden Bears followed with consecutive singles to produce one run and, after a walk loaded the bases, sophomore first baseman Steve Buckley (Monroe, CT/Masuk) cleared the bags and tied the score with a three-run double to center.

Freshman John Waters (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) worked out of the jam and pitched 1-1/3 shutout innings of two-hit ball before junior Dashon Jones (Newark, NJ/East Side) turned in a stellar shutout stint of 4-2/3 one-hit innings for Rutgers-Camden.

Prager went 4-for-5 with one run and two RBIs to lead the Raptors' 17-hit attack. Spingler was 3-for-4 with one run and two RBIs, while Gonzalez was 3-for-8 with one run. Senior centerfielder Albert Rivera (Matawan, NJ/Matawan Regional) and junior third baseman Luis Maldonado (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Pennsauken) each added two hits for the Raptors.

Gonzalez stretched his season-long hitting streak to nine games, while Rivera increased his streak to eight games and Prager extended his hitting streak to six.

Buckley and senior second baseman Tim Clark (West Springfield, MA/Avon Old Farms) both had three-hit games for Western New England University, which is based in Springfield, Massachusetts.

The Scarlet Raptors resume play Monday at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational when they play a 1 p.m. doubleheader against another ranked team, No. 19 Trinity (CT) College.