KISSIMMEE, FL – Senior Amber Affholter delivered her second game-winning hit of the day as Rutgers-Newark rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to down Nichols College, 9-8, in the Rebel Spring Games. 

Rutgers-Newark 9, Nichols 8

Affholter, who went four for five in the game, stroked a bases-loaded, walk-off single with two out to give the Scarlet Raiders (2-0) their second come-from behind win of the day. The Raiders won their morning opener, 4-3 in eight innings with Affholter delivering the game-winning single in the top of the extra inning. 

Senior centerfielder Jessica Zelaya also went four for five for Rutgers-Newark which posted 13 hits. Freshman right fielder Nicole Odell went two for three with a pair of RBIs. 

Freshman pitcher Samantha Veneziano (1-0) scattered eight hits and walked three to get the victory despite six Raider fielding errors. 

Centerfielder Lauren Correia paced Nichols by going three for four and scoring three times while left fielder Ashley Robidoux went two for three and also scored three times. 

The Bison's sixth error opened the flood gates in the bottom of the seventh when freshman third baseman Monica Liotto reached on a dropped fly ball to right field. Rookie first baseman Monica Bagan was hit by a pitch before Veneziano advanced the runners with a ground ball back to the pitcher. Back-to-back RBI singles by junior leftfielder Ashley Angeli and Odell tied the score. Zelaya loaded the bases with an infield single before junior second baseman Emily Ibarra lined out to the second baseman. Affholter then singled through the right side of the infield to end the contest. 

A one-out triple by Bagan in the second followed by a infield ground by Veneziano trimmed an early Nichols lead to 2-1, but the Bison pushed the lead to 5-1 with a 3-run third. 

The Raiders got a run back on a lead-off double by Zelaya, a sacrifice bunt by Ibarra and an RBI single by Affholter in the bottom of the third, but a Rutgers-Newark error gave back the run in the top of the fourth. 

Odell had an RBI single and Zelaya a run-producing double in the fourth as the Raiders began to scratch their way back into the game. 

Affholter led off the 2-run fifth with a single as the Raiders took advantage of a pair of Bison errors to make it 7-6. 

Nichols scored once on a double and single in the top of the seventh, but Veneziano got a grounder back to the mound to end the inning with the bases loaded. 

Rutgers-Newark faces Hendrix College at 1 p.m. and Skidmore at 3 0'clock on Sunday in the week-long tournament.