GALLOWAY, N.J. (April 25, 2023) – With two games left in the New Jersey Athletic Conference season, the Rutgers University-Camden softball team has put itself on the verge of reaching the NJAC playoffs.
 
The Scarlet Raptors helped their cause here Tuesday by splitting a conference doubleheader against Stockton University. The Ospreys won a tight pitching duel, 2-0, in the opener before the Scarlet Raptors captured a 4-3 victory in the nightcap.
 
The split leaves Rutgers-Camden with a 7-9 mark in the conference, tied with Kean University for fifth place in the bid to reach the six-team post-season tournament. Rutgers-Camden plays a season-ending doubleheader at Kean Saturday, beginning at 12 p.m. Both teams need only a split to reach the tournament, although a sweep would leave the winner as the NJAC's fifth seed without any tie-breakers. Yet sitting in seventh place, with a 5-10-1 conference mark, is William Paterson, which could mathematically jump one of those teams if it sweeps Rutgers-Newark Saturday while either Kean or Rutgers-Camden loses both games.
 
Rutgers-Camden stands at 10-22 overall, while Stockton is 18-16. The Ospreys, at 10-6 in the NJAC, will be the fourth seed in the conference playoffs.
   
In the opening game, Scarlet Raptor senior Rachel White hurled a stellar four-hitter, but the Ospreys scored two runs in the second inning and that was enough to support sophomore winning pitcher Nerina Tramp in her two-hit shutout.
 
Stockton junior designated player Jenna Patterson hit a leadoff single in the second inning and scored on a double by senior first baseman Michaela Luyber. Luyber scored the second run, an unearned tally, on an error.
 
White (0-9) walked three and struck out one in her complete-game outing. Tramp (10-7) walked one and struck out seven.
 
After walking Raptor senior right fielder Jayden Hunter to open the game, Tramp retired the next 11 batters until senior catcher Zoe Rodriguez collected the Raptors' first hit, a two-out fourth-inning single to right field. The only other hit by the Raptors came on a two-out seventh-inning double by junior designated player Kamryn Kennedy.
   
Rutgers-Camden scored two runs in the sixth inning to snap a 2-2 tie and hung on to edge the Ospreys in the nightcap. The frame opened with a single by sophomore third baseman Luci Hutchinson, a bunt single by senior second baseman Cate Petrucelli and a single by freshman first baseman Bella Lynch to load the bases. A pair of wild pitches scored Hutchinson and Petrucelli.
 
Sophomore pitcher Lindsey Rodzon (10-13) scattered seven hits and allowed three earned runs. She struck out five and didn't walk any batters.
 
Hunter led off the game with a home run to center field, but Stockton scored twice in the second inning on a two-run homer by sophomore left fielder Megan Sears. The Raptors tied the game in the third on a double by Hunter and an RBI single by White.
 
Stockton added its final run in the bottom of the seventh and stranded the tying run at first base.
 
Hunter went 3-for-3 with two runs, one walk and one RBI at the top of the Raptor lineup. Petrucelli was 3-for-4 with one run.