Game 1 / Game 2

Galloway, NJ – Stockton University (10-23, 7-11 NJAC) ended the 2016 season by sweeping a doubleheader from Rutgers-Newark (15-24, 7-11) with a pair of one-run victories, 6-5 and 1-0. The Ospreys finished the year with a three-game winning streak and a 7-5 record in their last 12 games.
 
In the opener, Stephen Struble (Hammonton/Hammonton) led the Ospreys with three hits, including a home run, and four RBI. Dan Sweeney (Middletown/Middletown South) went 3-4 with two doubles and two runs while Tyler Hobbs (Brick/Brick Memorial) also rapped three hits.
 
Struble slugged his first homer of the season in the second inning to give Stockton an early 1-0 edge but Rutgers-Newark answered with two runs in the top of the third to go ahead 2-1. The Scarlet Raiders added two more in the top of the fifth to make it 4-1.
 
The Ospreys responded in the bottom half as they loaded the bases to set the stage for a two-run single by Struble that closed the gap to 4-3. Rutgers-Newark plated one tally in the top of the seventh but Stockton escaped further damage as Dylan Warburton (Sewell/Washington Twp.) induced the last two outs with the bases loaded.
 
Struble came through again in the bottom of the seventh, stroking an RBI single that got the Ospreys within one again at 5-4. In the top of the eighth, Rutgers-Newark got a runner to third with none out but Warburton retired three straight to get out of the inning unscathed.
 
The Ospreys took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the eighth. A single by Hobbs, fielder's choice and then a double by Sweeney put runners at second and third. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, Matt Mangarella (Milltown/Spotswood) knocked a two-run single to put Stockton on top 6-5.
 
Warburton pitched a perfect ninth inning to clinch the 6-5 Stockton triumph. He earned the win with five innings of work out of the bullpen in which he allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts.
 
Brandon Perna (Cherry Hill/CH West) pitched a gem in the nightcap, scattering six hits and fanning five to record his first career shutout and first win of the season. Mangarella, a senior, went 2-4 in his final college game while Hobbs extended his reached base streak to 14 games with a single.
 
The contest was scoreless into the seventh inning as Perna and Rutgers-Newark hurler Dominick Fazio dueled on the mound. In the bottom of the seventh, Struble walked and then moved to third on hits by Antonio Morello (Washington Twp./Washington Twp.) followed by Hobbs. Struble then scored the only run of the game on a passed ball.
 
Perna allowed two baserunners in the eighth inning before coaxing an inning-ending groundout to short. He tossed a perfect ninth frame to close out the 1-0 shutout.