Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

MAHWAH, N.J. (April 28, 2016) – The opening games of New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheaders have produced remarkably consistent success stories for the Rutgers University-Camden softball team this season, but the nightcaps have been trouble.
 
That story continued her Thursday as the Scarlet Raptors split a NJAC doubleheader against Ramapo College on a rainy, raw day. Rutgers-Camden pulled out a 5-4, 10-inning win in the opener before losing, 5-0, in the second game, which was stopped in the middle of the sixth inning due to unsafe conditions.
 
The split leaves the Raptors with an overall record of 18-18 and a 7-9 mark in the NJAC. Ramapo is 21-11 and 11-5. Of the Scarlet Raptors' eight NJAC doubleheaders, they have split seven of them, winning the first game each time. The only exception was a doubleheader loss at NJAC-leading Rowan University.
 
The Raptors' 7-9 conference record leaves them tied with Kean University for the sixth and final NJAC playoff spot, heading into the last two games of the season on Saturday. Rutgers-Camden closes its regular season hosting New Jersey City University in a 4 p.m. NJAC doubleheader, while Kean plays a twinbill at Montclair State University.
   
In the opening game, senior centerfielder Lindsay Day (Mays Landing, NJ/Oakcrest) ripped an RBI double in the 10th inning to score winning pitcher Brittany Scott (Buena, NJ/Buena Regional), who started the frame at second base with the international tie-breaker rule. Scott completed her complete game five-hitter by wriggling out of the international tie-breaker scenario in the bottom of the frame when the Red Hawks moved their runner to third with one out. Scott got the last two outs on a foul pop and a strikeout.
 
Both teams scored runs in the ninth inning to extend the game, with the Raptors scoring on a pinch-hit RBI single by freshman Dannie Dinsfriend (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee). The Roadrunners answered with a sacrifice fly.
 
After Ramapo scored a fourth-inning run on an RBI single by junior leftfielder Grace Brennan (Old Bridge, NJ/Academy for Allied Health & Biomedical Sciences), the Raptors scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning. The frame started when junior first baseman Abby Merryman (Washington Township, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a single by sophomore catcher Mackenzie Mason (Penns Grove, NJ/Penns Grove). One out later, an error on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore second baseman Taylor Nichols (Barrington, NJ/Haddon Heights) allowed Merryman to score the tying run. Scott added a two-out, two-run single to cap the inning.
 
Ramapo tied the game in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run home run by Brennan, who finished the game 2-for-4.
 
Day went 3-for-5 with one RBI to lead the Raptors' 10-hit attack. Mason and Nichols added 2-for-3 games with one run scored apiece.
   
Ramapo sophomore Christina Brizek (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock) tossed a one-hit shutout in the second game, walking two and striking out two. Day's single with one out in the fifth inning was the lone Raptor hit, while Scott and Mason both walked once.
 
Ramapo scored the only run it needed in the first inning on three hits, including an RBI single by senior third baseman Mikayla Melendez (Woodland Park, NJ/Passaic Valley). They added a solo home run by junior first baseman Nicole Mahoney (Ringwood, NJ/Lakeland) in the fourth inning and bunched four hits, an error and a walk in the fifth to score three times.
 
Ramapo senior centerfielder Danielle Saporito (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) went 2-for-3 with two runs as the only multi-hit player in the game.
 
Scott (13-13) worked four innings in the nightcap to take the loss, allowing seven hits, two walks and five runs, four earned.