CAMDEN (April 7, 2008) – Rowan University senior lefty Joe Cichy (Vineland, NJ/St. Augustine Prep) took a shutout into the ninth inning and the Profs escaped a late Rutgers-Camden rally to beat the Scarlet Raptors, 4-2, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference makeup game Monday afternoon at Campbell’s Field.
Rowan, which is ranked 16th in the latest ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Top 25 poll and received votes toward the d3baseball.com national poll, improves to 17-7 overall and 4-4 in the NJAC. Rutgers-Camden falls to 7-16 and 1-6.
In a tight pitchers’ duel between senior southpaws Cichy and Rutgers-Camden’s Andrew Lihotz (Philadelphia, PA/Northeast), the Profs finally broke a scoreless deadlock with two runs in the fourth inning. Senior second baseman Joe Franceschini (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) drew a leadoff walk and scored on a two-out triple to left-center by senior third baseman Paul Urbanovich (Rutherford, NJ/St. Peter’s Prep). That hit broke a scoreless string of 13 straight innings for Lihotz, who hurled a shutout in his previous outing and hadn’t allowed a run since the eighth inning of a loss at The College of New Jersey March 27.
Junior designated hitter Tom Reindel (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) followed with a RBI single to plate Urbanovich.
The Profs added another run in the sixth inning following a leadoff double by Urbanovich, who went 3-for-4 with three runs scored, one RBI and an outstanding defensive game at third base. Reindel followed with a deep fly ball to right field. Urbanovich tagged and came all the way around to score on an overthrow to third base.
The Profs added their final run in the top of the ninth following a leadoff single by Urbanovich. He advanced to third base on a stolen base and a throwing error, and then scored on a double by senior catcher Robert Fox (Ocean Township, NJ/Ocean Township).
That 4-0 lead looked like more than enough for Cichy, who entered the ninth inning with a two-hit shutout and only two walks. After retiring the first batter on a ground out, however, Cichy walked three straight batters and was relieved by junior Kevin O’Hara (Clayton, NJ/Gloucester Catholic). Sophomore third baseman Kyle Ballay (Delran, NJ/Delran) greeted O’Hara with a two-run single, snapping a string of 17-2/3 consecutive scoreless innings for the Raptors, who hadn’t scored since the eighth inning of a 17-inning loss to Rutgers-Newark Saturday.
Junior Matt Gabrielski (Atco, NJ/St. Joseph-Hammonton) followed with a pinch-hit single to right field, loading the bases and placing the tying run at second base. O’Hara nailed down his third save of the season with a swinging strikeout and a 3-1 ground out to end the threat.
Cichy (2-2) allowed two hits, five walks and two earned runs in 8-1/3 innings, while striking out six. Lihotz (2-3) worked seven innings, allowing five hits, three earned runs and one walk. He struck out two.
Rowan collected seven hits in the game, with three by Urbanovich and two apiece by Reindel and Fox. Rutgers-Camden had four singles, including the two-run hit by Ballay and the pinch-hit single by Gabrielski.
Rowan hosts Wesley College Tuesday in a 3:30 p.m. non-conference game.
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Thursday when it entertains The College of New Jersey in a 3:30 p.m. NJAC contest.
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