Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CAMDEN, N.J. (April 14, 2018) – The Rutgers University-Newark softball team received strong pitching from seniors Kelly Yusko and Morgan Walizer as they swept past Rutgers-Camden by identical 4-1 scores in a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader here Saturday night.
 
The Scarlet Raiders improved to 17-10 overall and jumped past Rutgers-Camden in the NJAC standings, raising their record to 3-5 in conference play. The Scarlet Raptors fell to 9-12 overall and 2-6 in the NJAC.
 
Newark hadn't swept Rutgers-Camden since taking all three games (including a NJAC playoff game) in the 1997 season. Since then, Rutgers-Camden was 40-3 against Rutgers-Newark, despite the teams splitting doubleheaders the last two seasons.
 
The Scarlet Raptors will have a chance to recover from their late Saturday night, as Sunday's makeup doubleheader at Ramapo College has been postponed due to weather and field conditions. The NJAC twinbill already had been postponed from last weekend due to unplayable field conditions. The makeup date has yet to be determined.
 
Rutgers-Camden's next scheduled doubleheader is Tuesday at 3 p.m. when the Scarlet Raptors visit Rowan University for a conference twinbill.
   
Yusko (4-4) tossed a five-hitter, striking out six and walking one, as she defeated the Scarlet Raptors in the opening game. She allowed only one earned run in the fifth inning, when junior left fielder Kacie Pisani (Barrington, NJ/Haddon Heights) drew a two-out walk, stole second and scored on a single to center by sophomore shortstop Nina Arroyo (Delran, NJ/Delran).
 
Rutgers-Newark took the lead for good with a run in the top of the first inning, sparked by a leadoff single from freshman shortstop Jaclyn Arute. With one out, Yusko walks and freshman designated player Julie Contravo reached on an error. Walizer, playing third base in the opening game, picked up a RBI on her ground out.
 
The Scarlet Raiders added another run in the fourth inning after Contravo was hit by a pitch and Walizer reached on a fielder's choice, forcing Contravo at second. Walizer stole a base and scored all the way from second on a two-out pop up single by senior second baseman Kayla Gallo, which fell into no-man's land behind the pitcher's mound.
 
After the Scarlet Raptors cut the gap to 2-1, their sister school from up north put the game away with a two-run sixth inning. Newark's rally, sparked by a pinch-hit ground rule double from freshman Angela Haines, included two hits, a walk, a hit batsman and an error. Yusko plated the final run with a single.
 
Raptor junior Kendra Pfister (Dacula, GA/Dacula) pitched six innings of five-hit ball, sandwiched around one inning from junior Dannie Dinsfriend (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee). Pfister (4-8) walked three, struck out two and allowed three unearned runs. Dinsfriend allowed two hits and one earned run.
 
Senior first baseman Mariah Hans (Barrington, NJ/Haddon Heights) went 2-for-2 for Rutgers-Camden, while adding 12 putouts and two assists. Yusko went 2-for-3 with one RBI to lead Newark's seven-hit attack.  
Walizer raised her record to 4-0 with a six-hitter, striking out one, issuing no walks and allowing just one earned run as she survived a pitchers' duel with Raptor freshman Kennedy Whalen (Williamstown, NJ/Gateway Regional). Whalen (4-4), who matched Walizer with shutout ball over the first four innings, ended up working 6-2/3 innings and allowing 10 hits and four earned runs. She walked one and struck out one.
 
Newark finally broke the scoring ice in the top of the fifth inning when senior catcher Morgan Schweitzer hit a leadoff double and scored on a two-out double by Haines. The Scarlet Raiders added a run on two hits, including a RBI single by Contravo, in the sixth inning.
 
Rutgers-Camden collected singles from Pisani and Arroyo to produce a sixth-inning run. With runners on first and third, Arroyo got caught in a rundown while Pisani scored. The run cut the Raptors' deficit to 2-1, but Newark broke through for a pair of runs on five hits in the top of the seventh to put the game away.
 
Walizer led the Scarlet Raiders' 11-hit attack with a 3-for-4, one RBI game. The Scarlet Raptors had six singles and a double from sophomore second baseman Rachel Edwards (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township). Hans, pictured above, collected 13 putouts at first base.