CAMDEN, N.J. (April 2, 2019) – After opening their New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule with 17 runs and a doubleheader sweep on Saturday, the Rutgers University-Camden softball team was held to two runs here Tuesday in its first home twinbill of the season.
 
Ramapo College senior Erin Fitzsimmons hurled a pair of complete games to lead the Roadrunners over the Scarlet Raptors, 6-1 and 4-1, in NJAC action.
 
The sweep lifts Ramapo to 10-8, while Rutgers-Camden falls to 6-6. Both teams are 2-2 in NJAC play. Ramapo has now won its last seven games against Rutgers-Camden in the all-time series.
 
Rutgers-Camden returns to action Thursday with a 3 p.m. non-conference doubleheader at Moravian College.
   
Fitzsimmons hurled a four-hitter in the opener, allowing one earned run and two walks, while striking out three.
 
Scarlet Raptor sophomore Sarah Byrnes was the tough-luck losing pitcher, allowing eight hits and only two earned runs out of the six scored by Ramapo. Byrnes (4-4), pictured above, walked two and fanned three. Out of the 29 runs she has allowed this season, 20 are unearned.
 
The Roadrunners scored all the runs they needed in the first inning on a hit batsman, a fly ball that was played into a double, an error on a dropped foul ball, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. They added a run in the second inning on a single by junior first baseman Sarah Browning, a walk and a ground rule double by junior center fielder Jackie Howarth.
 
The Scarlet Raptors scored their lone run – and collected all four of their hits – in the fourth inning, cutting their deficit to 3-1. Sophomore catcher Alexis Davis opened the frame with a single to left field, breaking up Fitzsimmons' no-hit bid. Sophomore shortstop Nina Arroyo and junior first baseman Marissa Beebe followed with bunt singles and Byrnes lined a RBI single to center. Fitzsimmons, however, worked out of the bases-loaded, no-out jam with a foul out, a strikeout and a ground out. She allowed only two walks and a hit batsman the rest of the way.
 
Ramapo put the game away with a three-run seventh inning, featuring an error that made everything unearned. Senior Harper Patsko, who played a stellar defensive doubleheader at third base, had the big hit of the inning with a two-run ground rule double.
   
Fitzsimmons (5-6) and Raptor senior Kendra Pfister matched scoreless innings until the fourth, when the Roadrunners plated three runs on four hits. Howarth had a ground rule double to break the scoreless tie and sophomore second baseman Carli Egan added a two-run single. Egan finished the game 3-for-4 with one run and two RBIs. She was a combined 4-for-7 with two runs and three RBIs in the doubleheader.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored its lone run in the bottom of the fourth when designated player Byrnes singled, Beebe erased her on a fielder's choice and Pfister walked. Junior third baseman Rachel Edwards singled to load the bases and freshman left fielder Kimmy Musarra had a two-out RBI bunt single. Musarra went 2-for-2 in the game.
 
For the doubleheader, Arroyo was 3-for-7, while Byrnes, Beebe and Edwards joined Musarra with two hits apiece.