Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 EWING, N.J. – Three days after splitting with the 24th-ranked team in the country, the Rutgers University-Camden softball team earned another split against a ranked team as the Scarlet Raptors faced No. 25 The College of New Jersey here Tuesday.
The Lions won the opener, 2-1, but the Scarlet Raptors came back to take the nightcap, 5-2, as they continued their fine start in the New Jersey Athletic Conference season.
Rutgers-Camden, which split with 24th-ranked Kean University Saturday, stands at 13-5-1 overall and 6-2 in the NJAC. TCNJ is 12-6 and 5-3.
The Raptors return to action Thursday with a non-conference doubleheader at Arcadia University, beginning at 6 p.m.
TCNJ 2, Rutgers-Camden 1
The first game was a pitchers' duel between Raptor junior
Brittany Scott (Buena, NJ/Buena Regional) and Lions junior
Ashtin Helmer (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury). Both pitchers took no-hitters into the third inning and shutouts into the fourth. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, however, TCNJ junior designated hitter
Deanna Utter (Byram, NJ/Lenape Valley Regional) sent a 3-0 offering over the fence in left-center for a solo home run.
The Lions added another run in the fifth inning on a two-out single by freshman second baseman
Bria Bartsch (Montville, NJ/Mount Saint Dominic Academy), following a pair of walks.
The Scarlet Raptors threatened in the sixth inning after a leadoff double by senior left fielder
Devon Welsh (Maple Shade, NJ/Audubon) was followed by a single from sophomore right fielder
Jalene Garcia (Vineland, NJ/Vineland). After Welsh was thrown out at the plate on a fielder's choice, Scott grounded to shortstop, plating Garcia.
Rutgers-Camden junior center fielder
Lindsay Day (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) drew a leadoff walk in the seventh and reached second on a sacrifice by senior shortstop
Krystine Rice (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee), but Helmer nailed down her win with a strikeout and a ground out. She finished with a four-hitter, one walk and five strikeouts as she raised her record to 5-2. Welsh went 2-for-2 to account for half of the Scarlet Raptors' hits.
Scott allowed only three hits, three walks and two earned runs in her six-inning complete game. She struck out two.
Rutgers-Camden 5, TCNJ 2
Scott scattered 10 hits in her complete-game effort to raise her record to 11-4. She allowed two earned runs and three walks, while fanning four. Lions junior
Katie Hourihan (Neptune, NJ/Neptune), meanwhile, took the loss, allowing five hits and five runs (four earned) in only 2.2 innings. Hourihan (5-4) walked one and struck out one.
After the Lions scored a run in the first inning, the Scarlet Raptors took the lead for good with a three-run second, capped by a three-run home run by Welsh. Rice started the uprising with a one-out single to center and was erased on a fielder's choice by freshman first baseman
Lauren Simmons (Haddon Heights, NJ/Haddon Heights). Freshman catcher
Makenzie Mason (Carneys Point, NJ/Penns Grove) followed with a walk before Welsh unloaded her shot to left-center field.
The Raptors added two more runs in the third after freshman second baseman
Taylor Nichols (Barrington, NJ/Haddon Heights) reached on a leadoff error. Scott singled to left and advanced to second when a play was made trying to get Nichols at third. Day drove home a run with a ground out and Rice doubled down the left field line to drive home Scott.
TCNJ cut the gap to 5-2 with a run in the bottom of the third and tried to mount a seventh-inning rally with a pair of hits, but Garcia made a fine running catch in the right-center field gap to short-circuit the comeback bid.
Scott went 3-for-4 with one run for the Raptors, while Rice was 2-for-3 with one RBI. Welsh was 1-for-3 with three RBIs on the first home run of her two-year Rutgers-Camden career.
