By MICHAEL RADANO
Courier-Post Staff
CAMDEN

If the Camden Riversharks entertain any hopes of a postseason berth, Thursday night was the type of game they had to win.

But they didn't.

Somerset scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning off reliever Jimmy Williams for a 2-0 win over the Sharks, in front of 3,909 fans at Campbell's Field.

In a game delayed 1 hour and 34 minutes by rain, the Sharks blew a stellar pitching performance with weak offense and even worse relief pitching.

In the ninth, Somerset's Billy Hall led off with a single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and then to third on a passed ball that was strike three to Emiliano Escandon, who reached base.

After Michael Warner grounded out to second, Greg Blosser hit a ball to Dan Held at first. With only one out, Held threw home - he could have touched first for the third out if Escandon had been out on strike three. Instead, Camden catcher Guillermo Garcia was too far up the line when Held's throw arrived, and Hall slid under the tag for a 1-0 lead. DaRond Stovall then singled home the final run of the game.

``It was good to come out and get a win, no doubt about it,'' Blosser said. ``They're in second place, and we're ahead by seven games now. We just have to keep sticking together.''

Despite a no decision, Lincoln Mikkelson continued his impressive run through the last three weeks. The Sharks right hander has allowed three runs over his last three starts but has a 1-1 record. Mikkelson gave up all three runs Aug.7 in a 3-1 loss to Newark. Including that start and four innings against Bridgeport in a game that was eventually stopped, Mikkelson has allowed six runs over his last 27˜ innings pitched and has gone 19˜ innings without an earned run, including a 5-0 win over Atlantic City last week.

``I try to pitch that way each time out,'' Mikkelson said. ``I actually felt better after the rain delay. I just couldn't get loose before the game. After the rain delay, I had a better fastball.''

In the eighth, Kevin Dattola led off with a single to left for Somerset. When Brad Strauss struggled to pick the ball up, Dattola raced to second.

Until then, Somerset (21-16 half, 60-40) had only one base runner reach second - Warner, in the first with two outs. Mikkelson faced only two batters over the minimum in the first seven innings.

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