Andrew Lihotz is quickly gaining the reputation as the Scarlet Raptors’ giant killer.

        For the second consecutive year in 2007, Lihotz turned in one of the top pitching performances at Rutgers-Camden on his way toward beating a team ranked in the national Top Four. During the 2006 season, he defeated then-No. 4 Chapman University, and last year he raised the bar by defeating Wheaton (Mass.) College, a team ranked No. 2 nationally at the time. Wheaton, which finished 11th in the year-end Division III national poll, was held in check by Lihotz on March 14 as the Raptors posted a 7-3 victory on their trip to Arizona. Lihotz worked 5-2/3 innings of five-hit ball, allowing three runs (two earned) and seven walks, while striking out three. It was his first decision of the season.

        On the year, Lihotz finished with a 1-3 record and a 6.85 ERA while pitching with a foot injury against some of the toughest teams on the Rutgers-Camden schedule. Lihotz pitched in 10 games and made five starts in 2007, with four of them coming against nationally-ranked programs including Kean University, which won the Division III national title. One of his relief outings came against Gwynedd-Mercy, another program which finished with a national ranking (27th in the final ABCA/Collegiate Baseball Division III poll).

        Despite his record, Lihotz proved his value as a big-game pitcher. He finished 11th in the New Jersey Athletic Conference in opponent batting average (.227), was 15th in batting average against lefties (.208) and tied for 17th in batting average with runners on base (.244). The southpaw also tied for 12th in the NJAC with a pair of pickoffs.

        Lihotz started his season with a bang, hurling a perfect ninth inning, with one strikeout, to get the save in a 3-2 victory over Waynesburg College Feb. 24. His first start came against Wabash College (March 9), when he worked 5-2/3 innings, allowing six hits and three earned runs, but he didn’t get the decision in the Raptors’ 5-4 victory. Five days later he matched that 5-2/3 inning stint, his longest of the year, in the performance against Wheaton College.

        Lihotz, who alternated between the bullpen and a starting role, started against nationally-ranked programs in his last three starts, all coming against NJAC rivals in Ramapo College, Montclair State and Kean. Against the eventual national champion Cougars on April 29, he worked 4-2/3 innings of one-hit ball, allowing four walks and five runs (four earned) in an eventual 5-4 defeat. He struck out three.

        Entering his senior season, Lihotz has worked in 25 games, making 18 starts, and hurling 93-1/3 innings at Rutgers-Camden. He has six wins, one save and 53 strikeouts, and could move into the Top 10 on the program’s all-time charts in several categories. He needs seven appearances to tie for 10th place (32) and four more wins to become only the 10th player in program history to reach double digits in victories.

        Lihotz not only helped the Raptors with his arm, but with his fleet feet as well. Inserted as a pinch-runner against Catholic University April 9, Lihotz scored the tying run in the 10th inning, helping the Raptors to an eventual 12-inning, 8-7 victory in the opening game of a doubleheader.

        Lihotz collected one of the Scarlet Raptors’ biggest victories of the season in 2006, and he did so at the expense of an All-American.

        Lihotz worked five innings, allowing only two earned runs, to help Rutgers-Camden post a 3-2 victory at No. 4-ranked Chapman University (March 16). Not only was it the first win of the year for Lihotz, but it snapped the 18-game winning streak of Chapman pitcher Buddy Klovstad and proved to be his only loss in a 13-1 season. Lihotz worked his way out of several jams in that game, allowing seven hits and six walks to the powerful Chapman lineup, while striking out three.

        That win over Chapman came a few days after Lihotz nearly knocked off another top team. He worked 6-2/3 innings – his longest stint of the season – in the Raptors’ eventual 6-5 loss against Linfield College (March 11). He allowed seven hits and four runs – only two earned – and was leading Linfield, 3-1, before the Wildcats tied the game on a pair of unearned runs.

        For the season, Lihotz posted a 3-6 record and a 5.83 ERA in 10 games. His 10 starts led the Scarlet Raptors’ pitching staff, and he finished third in both innings pitched (54) and strikeouts (29).

        Lihotz earned his second win of his sophomore year against hard-hitting Gwynedd-Mercy College, working six innings and allowing eight hits and six runs (five earned) in the Raptors’ 10-6 win March 21.

        Lihotz turned in an outstanding performance April 24 in a 12-1 victory over New Jersey City University (Game One). He hurled five innings of two-hit ball, allowing one earned run and two walks. He struck out his season high of six batters.

        During his freshman season in 2005, Lihotz showed such poise and talent that he was selected to start the Scarlet Raptors’ New Jersey Athletic Conference playoff game against top-seeded Kean University (May 6). He finished his season with a 2-0 record and a 1.72 ERA in five games, making three starts, and pitching 15-2/3 innings. He allowed 16 hits and nine runs, only three earned, while walking 11 and striking out 10.

        Lihotz made his collegiate debut with a perfect inning in a 22-10 victory over Arcadia University (March 30, 2005). In his next outing, against Eastern University (April 13), he made the most of his first starting assignment by hurling 6-1/3 innings in a 10-3 victory. He allowed three hits – hurling no-hit ball until Eastern opened the fifth inning by reaching on an error and then collecting a single – and walked five. Only two of the three runs he allowed were earned. He also struck out three.

        After hurling 1-1/3 innings in relief against William Paterson (April 24, Game Two), allowing only one unearned run and three hits while fanning three, he made another start against Ramapo College (May 1, Game Two). He earned the win in a 3-1 game by pitching five innings of five-hit ball, allowing one earned run. He walked four and struck out three.

        In the NJAC playoffs against Kean, Lihotz worked two innings and was victimized by his defense, allowing four unearned runs in that span. The Raptors rallied to win that game, 6-5, with three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

        The 1.72 ERA that Lihotz posted was the lowest mark among any Raptor pitchers hurling over seven innings in 2005.

        Lihotz was a baseball and football letterman at Northeast High School, where he was a Carpenter Cup team member during both his junior and senior seasons. He captured All-Public League baseball honors during both his junior (Second Team) and senior (First Team) seasons, and made the Philadelphia Daily News’ Third Team All-City as a junior and Second Team All-City during his senior season.

        Lihotz was named as his school’s Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior. He captured News Gleaner Player of the Year honors and was named team MVP during his senior season in 2004.

        A Business Management major who is the Co-Chair of Rutgers-Camden’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Andrew is the son of Carl and Lori Lihotz of Philadelphia.