AUBURNDALE, Fla. (March 15, 2016) – On a day when both the Rutgers University-Camden and Washington University baseball teams earned their way into two Division III national polls, both teams took early turns at giving away unearned runs here Tuesday at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

The high-powered Scarlet Raptor offense finally broke into gear with a seven-run seventh inning to snap a 2-2 tie, and Rutgers-Camden went on to defeat the St. Louis-based Bears, 13-3.

Rutgers-Camden, ranked No. 25 in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 poll and No. 19 in the first American Baseball Coaches Association poll, improves to 5-1. It is 2-1 at the RussMatt Invitational against three Top 25 teams, including a 1-1 mark against the top two in the nation. Rutgers-Camden has scored 49 runs against those three teams.

Washington, which was No. 22 in the D3baseball.com poll and No. 15 in the ABCA rankings, falls to 12-5.

The Bears scored an unearned run in the first inning, but the Raptors answered with their own unearned run in the third on a two-base outfield error, a grounder to the mound and a sacrifice fly by freshman shortstop Chris Jones Sewell, NJ/Bishop Eustace Prep).

After Washington scored another unearned run in the third to take the lead, the Scarlet Raptors countered with another unearned run of their own in the fourth following a leadoff single by senior second baseman Brett Tenuto (Audubon, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) and an errant pickoff attempt by Bears junior starter Brad Margolin (Northbrook, IL/Glenbrook North). Tenuto advanced to third on a fly out and scored on a ground out by junior left fielder Doug Carter Jr. (Union, NJ/Union).

The score remained deadlocked until the seventh, when the Raptors plated seven runs off a trio of Washington relievers. The frame opened when junior catcher Jon Theckston (Gloucester City, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) was hit by a pitch and went to third on a ground-rule double by junior first baseman Joe Brooks (Blackwood, NJ/Gloucester Catholic). Jones followed with a tie-breaking single to right center and, one out later, Tenuto walked to load the bases. Senior third baseman Joe Sigismondi (Blackwood, NJ/Highland Regional) was hit by a pitch for the 35th time in his career – 12 shy of the Raptor all-time record – to drive home another run. Carter followed with a two-run single and junior center fielder Cory Kreamer (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) singled to reload the bases. Junior right fielder Zach Ellin (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee) plated Sigismondi with a fielder's choice, and Carter also scored on an errant throw by the Bears' shortstop in the vain attempt to get a double play. Theckston capped the inning with an RBI single.

The offense kept going in the eighth after a leadoff single by Jones, who was replaced by pinch-runner Ray Taylor (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood). Junior designated hitter Andujar Cedeno (Bronx, NY/Escuela Nueva Esperanza, DR) followed with his third home run of the season, a two-run opposite-field shot down the right field line. An error and singles by Sigismondi and Kreamer produced a third run in the frame.

The Raptors tacked on another run in the ninth with pinch-hit singles by sophomore Jim Teran (Sicklerville, NJ/St. Joseph-Hammonton) and junior Justin Geri (Vineland, NJ/Buena Regional) sandwiched around an error. Geri's hit plated the run.

The Bears added one unearned run in the ninth to close out the scoring.

Senior southpaw Andrew Gottstein (Bloomsburg, PA/Bloomsburg) did a stellar job on the mound in earning his first decision of the year. Gottstein worked seven innings of five-hit ball, allowing only two unearned runs. He walked three and struck out seven.

Rutgers-Camden's 16-hit attack was led by Jones, Cedeno, Tenuto, Carter and Kreamer, with two hits apiece. Carter had three RBIs, while Cedeno and Jones added two apiece. Theckston and Tenuto both scored a pair of runs.

The Scarlet Raptors return to action Wednesday in Auburndale, playing a 10:30 a.m. game against Wheaton College (Norton, Massachusetts).