Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 29, 2018) – The last time weather allowed the Rutgers University-Camden softball team to play a game, the Scarlet Raptors were ending their spring break trip to South Carolina on March 16.

After nearly two weeks of remaining idle, the Scarlet Raptors finally saw action here Thursday, but they were swept by Catholic University of America, 9-1 in six innings and 2-1 behind a combination no-hitter by the Cardinal staff. The Scarlet Raptors, who hit .356 as a team down south while going posting a 7-4 record, managed only three hits on the day against Catholic.

The no-hit loss in the second game was the 10th no-hitter hurled against Rutgers-Camden in program history. It was the first since the opening game of a doubleheader on April 9, 2013, when they lost a five-inning 8-0 no-hitter against The College of New Jersey's Ashtin Helmer.

The Scarlet Raptors (7-6) open their home and New Jersey Athletic Conference seasons on Saturday when they host New Jersey City University in a 1 p.m. doubleheader.

In a game stopped in the bottom of the sixth inning by the eight-run mercy rule, Catholic scored early and often, taking a 5-0 lead into the third inning. The Cardinal scored twice in the first inning on three hits, including a two-run double by junior left fielder Rebecca Marks. The home team added three more runs in the second inning on one hit, a walk, an error and a fielder's choice that didn't retire anybody.

The Scarlet Raptors scored their lone run with an unearned tally in the third inning. They used singles by junior pitcher Kendra Pfister (Dacula, GA/Dacula) and senior third baseman Gabby Pfeiffer (Mount Holly, NJ/Rancocas Valley), coupled with an error, to plate the run.

Catholic added two more runs in the fourth and one apiece in the fifth and sixth innings, ending the game in the sixth with two outs on a RBI single by sophomore Shannon Harrington, who replaced Marks in left field.

Catholic collected 10 hits off Pfister (3-5), including six at the top of the order with three apiece by freshman center fielder Makayla Czan and junior second baseman Hailey Horton.

The Raptors collected only three singles off a pair of Catholic hurlers, including junior Kelly Lynch, who worked five innings of two-hit ball, allowing only one unearned run. Pfeiffer (pictured above), with a 2-for-2 game, was the lone Raptor with multiple hits, while Pfister had the other hit.

The combination of sophomores Claire Sturek and Sabrina Scott held the Scarlet Raptors hitless, spoiling an outstanding pitching effort by Rutgers-Camden freshman Kennedy Whalen (Williamstown, NJ/Gateway Regional). Whalen (3-1) hurled a five-hitter and allowed only one earned run out of the two runs that Catholic scored. She walked four and struck out one.

Sturek (2-1) picked up the victory with five no-hit innings, allowing only an unearned run in the top of the first inning. She struck out three and walked three before Scott hurled the final two innings, walking one and striking out one, to notch her first save.

All the runs scored in the first inning, with only one of them being earned. The Scarlet Raptors took a quick 1-0 lead with after a pair of Raptor walks opened the game, with freshman second baseman Nina Arroyo (Delran, NJ/Delran) and junior right fielder Lauren Glaze (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood) earning the free passes. An infield throwing error followed, allowing Arroyo to score.

Catholic bounced right back in the bottom of the frame with two runs, one of them unearned, on three walks, a hit batsman and an infield throwing error.