MONTCLAIR, N.J. (April 23, 2016) – Sophomore Mike Zibrintossed eight strong innings in the opener of a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) doubleheader at Montclair State University to help lift the Rutgers University-Newark baseball team to a split Saturday at Yogi Berra Stadium.
 
Zibrin and the Scarlet Raiders took the opener, 5-2, and despite a strong effort from sophomore starter Dominick Fazio in the nightcap, R-N fell by a score of 3-1.
 
Rutgers-Newark moves to 13-22 overall and 5-9 in the NJAC. The Red Hawks are now 17-16 overall and 8-6 in the NJAC. The Scarlet Raiders have three more conference victories than they had last year with four NJAC battles left on the schedule. R-N returns to the diamond at conference rival The College of New Jersey Thursday afternoon.
 
Rutgers-Newark 5, Montclair St. 2 – Game 1
Zibrin was the story of the opener, throwing eight marvelous innings and allowing just one earned run (two total) on eight hits. The second-year Scarlet Raider struck out three and walked one, improving to 3-4 on the season. Zibrin now has gone at least seven innings in five of his last seven starts.
 
Zibrin and Montclair starter Austin Minton matched zeros for the first three innings, with the Red Hawks breaking a scoreless tie with a single run in the bottom half of the fourth inning.
 
Rutgers-Newark came right back, pushing across a pair in the fifth to open a 2-1 lead. SophomoreJustin Marks walked to start the inning, and sophomore Ross Halkias singled behind him to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Senior Gerry Patrizio singled to bring home Marks, and Patrizio would eventually come around to score the lead run on a balk with two outs.
 
The Raiders added to their lead in the eighth inning with two insurance runs, one on an RBI groundout from Marks and another on an RBI single from senior Cameron Dias. The Dias hit brought in Cote who had reached on an error, and Marks' productive out scored senior Ryan MacFarlane who singled with one out.
 
MSU scored an unearned run in the eighth, but Rutgers-Newark went back up three (5-2) in its next turn at bat. Patrizio was hit by a pitch to start the top of the ninth, and promptly stole second base, coming around with the fifth Raider run of the game on a run-scoring single from sophomore Brian Boulineau.
 
Reliever Vincent Enea came on in the ninth to lock up his third save of the season, erasing a single baserunner on a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.
 
The Scarlet Raiders had eight hits in the opener, getting two from MacFarlane, Dias and Halkias. MacFarlane went 2-for-4 with a run scored, Dias was 2-for-5 with an RBI and Halkias was 2-for-4. MacFarlane (two) and Patrizio (three) combined for five stolen bases, and Patrizio scored twice (1-for-3, HBP).
 
Montlair St. 3, Rutgers-Newark 1 - Game 2
Montclair State jumped in front 2-0 on two hits in the opening frame, but Fazio settled down nicely, allowing just a single base runner over the next three innings to keep Newark within two.
 
Rutgers-Newark sliced the MSU lead in half in the top of the fifth. Patrizio delivered a two-out base hit, stole second – his fourth swipe of the doubleheader – and came in to score on a single from freshman Ryan Zucker.
 
The Red Hawks would score the final run of the game in the fifth inning, notching an unearned tally on a wild pitch. MacFarlane singled in the sixth, Marks did the same in the seventh and the Raiders had two on with two out in the eighth after a Boulineau walk and junior Josh Cote single, but could not get closer.
 
The Scarlet Raiders had seven hits in the second game, with MacFarlane going 2-for-4 to lead the way. MacFarlane finished the doubleheader 4-for-8.
 
Fazio allowed three runs (two earned) in seven innings. The sophomore scattered four hits, struck out four and walked three.
 
Michael Matarazzo earned his first win of the season for Montclair St., giving up a run on six hits in six innings.