CAMDEN, N.J. (April 23, 2026) – Junior pitcher Sammie Friel won both ends of a doubleheader and freshman outfielder Lilia Ortiz went 6-for-8 with one RBI as the Rutgers University-Camden softball team broke a seven-game losing streak with a pair of non-conference wins over Widener University here Thursday.
 
The Scarlet Raptors won the opener, 5-4, in eight innings and took the nightcap, 5-1.
 
The wins lift Rutgers-Camden to 10-20 overall, doubling the amount of wins they had last season.
 
Widener falls to 12-24.
 
The Scarlet Raptors close their season on Sunday when they host Kean University in a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader, beginning at 1 p.m. The game, originally scheduled for Saturday, was pushed back to Sunday due to the weather forecast.
   
The Scarlet Raptors scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth after junior shortstop Ava Iepson started the game on second base with the international tie-breaker rule. She advanced to third on a wild pitch and had to hold her ground on a little blooper to second base that went for an infield single by junior second baseman Gianna Bauer. With one out, junior third baseman Alana Gannon lifted a fly down the right field line that was caught in foul territory, but was deep enough to produce a sacrifice fly, plating Iepson with the winning run.
 
Both teams scored a pair of first-inning runs against freshman pitchers Natalie D'Angelo for the Raptors and Hayden Sissons for the Pride. The score remained tied until the Raptors scored twice in the fourth inning against Widener sophomore Hallie Wiener, taking advantage of a walk to Iepson, a sacrifice by junior center fielder Kali Baker, a single by Gannon coupled with an outfield throwing error, and a two-run single by sophomore designated player Madi Carr.
 
Widener scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings off D'Angelo to tie the game, but Friel worked out of the sixth with three straight outs. She finished the game, pitching three innings of no-hit ball, while walking one and striking out two.
 
Ortiz, playing left field in this game, went 3-for-4, while Bauer, Gannon and Carr all collected two hits.
   
Starting the second game, Friel (7-9) was in charge the whole way, hurling shutout ball until Widener scored its lone run in the seventh inning. Friel allowed eight hits and three walks, while striking out seven.
 
Rutgers-Camden scored a run in the second on a bases-loaded walk to Baker and added a run in the third when Carr and Ortiz hit back-to-back doubles. In the fifth inning, a bases-loaded walk to sophomore designated player Zoie Mantzell plated one run and an RBI ground out by Iepson scored a second run.
 
The Raptors added their final run in the sixth inning on four hits and an RBI ground out by Carr.
 
Ortiz, playing right field in the nightcap, had another 3-for-4 game, adding one RBI. Freshman first baseman Kaede Walsh and junior left fielder Victoria Connelly both went 2-for-3, with Walsh scoring two runs.