Newark, N.J. (Apr. 14, 2015) - The offense scored five runs through the first three innings and Louis Marotta threw 3.2 innings of scoreless relief and improved to 7-0 as Alvernia University (22-8) defeated Rutgers-Newark (9-19) by a 6-0 final Tuesday afternoon in non-conference baseball action at Riverfront Stadium.

The Crusaders scored twice in the second inning with James Bertolotti and Dan George both driving in runs.  The lead grew to 5-0 after the third inning when Chris Burns and Cameron Coons hit back-to-back doubles, and Bertolotti drove in his second run of the game with a single.

Alvernia starter Nick Liaci went 3.2 innings giving up two base hits and four walks with three strikeouts.  He turned the ball over to Marotta in the fourth after walking the bases loaded, and the junior reliever induced a fly ball to left to escape the jam.

Marotta worked around a pair of singles in the fifth and another in the sixth before getting the Raiders in order in the seventh.  He gave way to Tim Carfrey in the eighth after a fly out to center.  Carfrey threw an inning and gave up three hits and got two strikeouts.

Senior closer Kevin Becker-Menditto took over after Newark loaded the bases with one out in the ninth.  He picked a runner off second for the second out of the inning then got a fly ball to center to preserve the shutout.

Bertolotti went 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of RBIs, and Vinny Case, Ben Sawyer, and Burns had two hits apiece.

Alvernia continues the mid-week, non-conference games hosting Penn State-Berks on Thursday.