Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (March 16, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Camden softball team capped its successful season-opening southern trip here Friday by splitting a pair of games at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic.
 
After the Scarlet Raptors dropped their opener, 7-1, against Frostburg State University, they roared back in the nightcap to take a 10-0 five-inning victory over Alfred State. Freshman pitcher Kennedy Whalen (Williamstown, NJ/Gateway Regional) twirled a two-hitter in the final game of the Raptors' spring break trip to earn her first collegiate shutout.
 
Rutgers-Camden closes its 11-game trip to the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic with a 7-4 record. The Scarlet Raptors open their home season on Saturday, March 24, with a 12 p.m. doubleheader against Hunter College.
   
Frostburg State scored all the runs it needed in the top of the first inning, stringing together three straight hits, including a two-run double from sophomore designated player Katelyn Mehrling.
 
Rutgers-Camden cut its deficit to 2-1 in the second inning when senior first baseman Mariah Hans (Barrington, NJ/Haddon Heights) hit a leadoff double and scored on a two-out RBI single by senior catcher Mackenzie Mason (Penns Grove, NJ/Penns Grove). Those were the only hits the Raptors managed off winning pitcher Allison Short (4-2) until the seventh inning, when freshman center fielder Maggie Foss (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) had a two-out double.
 
The Bobcats (7-4) added a single run in the fifth inning and put the game out of reach with a four-run sixth. The big hit came on a two-out RBI single by freshman shortstop Kat Treff, plating the first run of the frame. Moments later, senior center fielder Sam Gatton had a bloop two-run single.  
For the third straight day, and the fourth time on their southern trip, the Scarlet Raptors bounced back to win their second game after losing the opening contest. Against Alfred State, they rode Whalen's two-hit shutout pitching, backed by a patient offense that took advantage of nine walks and four hit batsmen.  Rutgers-Camden needed only six hits to produce all of its runs in the game that was stopped after five innings due to the eight-run rule.
 
Whalen (3-0) retired the first seven batters she faced before allowing a one-out single in the third by junior catcher Kylie DeWilde. DeWilde had the Pioneers' only other hit with a two-out single in the fifth inning. Whalen (pictured above, center, with fellow hurlers Kendra Pfister, left, and Dannie Dinsfriend) didn't walk anyone and she struck out one.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored all the runs it needed in the top of the first inning, batting around and taking advantage of four walks and two hit batsmen by junior pitcher Jordan Leonard (0-6). The Raptors' only hit that inning came by their No. 9 hitter, senior third baseman Gabby Pfeiffer (Mount Holly, NJ/Rancocas Valley), who stroked aa two-run single up the middle.
 
Whalen and freshman second baseman Nina Arroyo (Delran, NJ/Delran) both had RBI doubles in the Raptors' two-run third inning, boosting Rutgers-Camden's lead to 7-0. The Raptors added three more runs in the fifth inning, aided by a RBI triple from Pfeiffer (2-for-3, one run and three RBIs) and a two-run single by Hans, who stretched her season-opening hitting streak to 11 games.