CAMDEN, N.J. (April 22, 2023) – With the race for the New Jersey Athletic Conference playoffs coming down to the wire, the Rutgers University-Camden softball team is trying to hang onto a post-season spot.
 
The Scarlet Raptors managed to defeat their sister school, Rutgers-Newark, in the opening game of a conference doubleheader here Saturday, but the Scarlet Raiders came back to win the nightcap, 5-3.
 
The split left the Raptors at 9-21 overall and 6-8 in NJAC play. They currently stand in fifth place in the conference standings in their bid to make the six-team playoffs. They have two NJAC doubleheaders left, on the road at Stockton (9-5, fourth place in the conference) on Tuesday and at Kean (5-9, seventh place) on Saturday.
 
Newark, which is tied for last place in the NJAC with a 2-12 mark, is 8-24 overall. The Scarlet Raiders' second-game win snapped their 13-game losing streak.
   
In the opening game, sophomore Lindsay Rodzon hurled a three-hitter, allowing one walk, one earned run and striking out three.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored in the first inning on an RBI single by junior right fielder Kamryn Kennedy. Newark tied the game in the third on a walk, a sacrifice and a pair of wild pitches.
 
The teams were tied at 1-1 until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Scarlet Raptors scored twice off Newark junior Madison DiGiorgio. With one out, sophomore left fielder Emily Dubiago singled and stole second. She advanced on a ground out and scored the go-ahead run on an infield single by junior center fielder Alexa McNee. Sophomore third baseman Luci Hutchinson followed with an RBI double.
 
The Raptors added their final run in the sixth inning when senior first baseman Jayden Hunter tripled and scored on a ground out by McNee.
 
Hutchinson finished the game 2-for-4 to lead a nine-hit Camden attack.
   
In the second game, Newark broke a 2-2 tie in the third inning on a two-run home run by sophomore third baseman Marissa Houseknecht. She finished the game 3-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs and one stolen base.
 
The Scarlet Raiders scored twice in the first inning on a two-run single by senior designated player Megan Tomaselli, who went 3-for-4 with her two RBIs in the nightcap.
 
Rutgers-Camden tied the game in the second after Kennedy walked and senior designated player Rachel White had a two-out single. Both freshman second baseman Bella Lynch and Dubiago followed with RBI singles.
 
White went 3-for-3 with one run in the second game.
 
In a reverse of the pitching decisions of the first game, Rodzon (9-13) took the loss in the nightcap, while DiGiorgio (5-11) won the game in relief.