JERSEY CITY, N.J. (March 29, 2026) – The Rutgers University-Camden and New Jersey City University softball teams waited one extra day to start their New Jersey Athletic Conference schedule due to Saturday's freezing weather. When they finally played here on Sunday, the two teams split their NJAC doubleheader for the third consecutive year.
 
NJCU won the opener, 7-2, and the Scarlet Raptors bounced back for a 5-3 victory in the nightcap, leaving both teams with a 1-1 conference record to start the NJAC schedule.
 
Rutgers-Camden leaves Jersey City with a 6-6 overall record, already owning one more win than it had all of last season. New Jersey City is 3-13 overall.
 
The Scarlet Raptors play another NJAC doubleheader on Tuesday, beginning at 2 p.m., when they travel to Ewing to face The College of New Jersey.
   
In the first game, the Gothic Knights exploded for five runs in the third inning off Scarlet Raptor junior Sammie Friel. A pair of singles, sandwiched around a walk, loaded the bases before the first run scored on a wild pitch. After another walk reloaded the bases, sophomore center fielder Emma Hanlon ripped a three-run triple. Sophomore winning pitcher Danika Borza followed with an RBI double.
 
Junior right fielder Victoria Connelly singled, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on a single by sophomore catcher Zoie Mantzell for the Raptors in the fifth inning. Rutgers-Camden got another run back in the sixth on singles by junior second baseman Gianna Bauer, sophomore designated player Madi Carr and an RBI single by Connelly.
 
The Gothic Knights put the game away in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run single from junior third baseman Emma Grochowski.
 
Borza (1-2) earned her first win of the season, hurling an eight-hitter with one walk. She allowed two earned runs and struck out five.
 
Friel (3-3) worked 2.2 innings, allowing six hits, five earned runs and six walks, while striking out six.
 
Bauer, Connelly and Mantzell had two hits apiece for Rutgers-Camden, while sophomore first baseman Kiara Taylor went 3-for-4 for the Gothic Knights.
   
The second game was a pitching duel between Rutgers-Camden junior Anna Milillo and NJCU junior Maggie Martin through the first four innings of scoreless ball.
 
Rutgers-Camden finally broke the ice when it scored a run in the top of the fifth, sparked by a leadoff single from freshman right fielder Sade Whittingham. Mantzell sacrificed her to second base and junior shortstop Ava Iepson was hit by a pitch. Following a fielder's choice, Bauer collected an RBI single.
 
The Gothic Knights countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame, aided by three hits, a wild pitch and a pair of walks against both Milillo and Friel. The big hit was a two-run single by senior designated player Natalie Rosales, which broke a 1-1 tie.
 
Rutgers-Camden bounced right back with a four-run sixth inning on three hits, a walk and a big error. Carr opened the frame with a single and freshman first baseman Kaede Walsh reached when her fly ball was dropped for an error. Freshman Lilia Ortiz ran for Walsh and Connelly loaded the bases with a single. Whittingham drew an RBI walk and a passed ball scored Ortiz with the tying run. Mantzell walked to reload the bases and Baker plated the go-ahead run with a fielder's choice. Junior third baseman Alana Gannon capped the frame with an RBI single.
 
Carr went 3-for-4 to lead a 12-hit Rutgers-Camden attack, while Gannon, Bauer and Iepson added two hits apiece,
 
Milillo (1-3) ended up working seven innings to earn her first win of the season. She allowed eight hits, one walk and two earned runs, while striking out three. Friel faced two batters in the fifth inning, allowing two walks and one earned run.