Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in game one to earn a doubleheader split against Baruch College on Alumni Field.  The Scarlet Raiders won 6-2 before dropped a 5-2 decision in the nightcap.

IN GAME ONE, junior pinch hitter Tori Santiago singled to open the sixth and scored the winning run on a throwing error to first base.  Freshman second baseman Vannessa Romero had an RBI single and senior third baseman Monica Liotto drove in a run with a double to right center field to make it 5-2 before Romero scored on a wild pitch.

Junior Brianna Alicchio (3-3) picked up the victory by scattering six hits while not allowing an earned run.

Romero, Liotto and senior designated player Monica Bagan collected two hits apiece to pace the Raiders' nine-hit attack against freshman righthander Christine Bowman (2-5).

Bagan and junior first baseman Liane Drastal opened the second inning with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners.  Senior leftfielder Nicole Odell brought home Bagan with a one-out ground ball to second base to stake the Raiders to a 1-0 lead.

Two infield errors by Rutgers-Newark set up a sacrifice fly by senior second baseman Nicole Flint and an RBI single through the right side of the infield by sophomore leftfielder Courtney White to give the Bearcats (14-14) a brief 2-1 lead in the top of the third.

A throwing error put Romero aboard in the third before Liotto and Bagan singled to knot the score a 2-2.

Alicchio and Bowman then settled in behind some solid defense by each team until the Raiders' sixth-inning eruption.  Alicchio faced the minimum of 12 batters in the final four innings despite giving up two hits as catcher Gabby Spinella threw out an attempted steal of second in the fourth and junior shortstop Tiara Santi turned a double-play in the fifth.  Alicchio put the Bearcats down in order in the sixth and seventh innings.

IN GAME TWO, a two-run triple to right center field by Spinella capped a three-hit uprising against Bowman in the first inning, but Baruch went to their senior ace Flint (10-7) in the second inning to stall the Rutgers-Newark offense.  Flint gave up only a fourth-inning single to Santiago while striking out two and walking two to pick up the win.

Flint also went three for four with a game-winning two-run single in the fifth and an RBI single in the seventh against Drastal (5-9).  Drastal gave up a dozen hits while striking out four and walking no one.

In the first inning, Santi double to left center field before getting caught too far off base on a one-hop ground ball to third off the bat of Romero.  Liotto singled to centerfield ahead of Spinella's triple.

White had an RBI double to left center field and scored on a ground ball to second in the fourth inning to knot the score at 2-2.

Flint ripped the game-winning single through the middle with two outs and junior second baseman Maria Vlahopoulos and senior catcher Megan Ruiz aboard via infield singles.

Consecutive singles by sophomore centerfielder Chelsea DeGuzman, sophomore third baseman Tonianne Donde and Flint in the seventh capped the scoring.

The Raiders only strong threat against Flint came when they loaded the bases on an error, a single by Santiago and a walk in the fourth.  But the Bearcat senior coaxed a pop-up to escape the jam.  Liotto drew a two-out walk in the fifth inning to be the only base runner allowed by Flint in the final three innings.

Rutgers-Newark (8-22, NJAC 2-12) visits The College of New Jersey on Tuesday a 3 p.m. for a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader before taking on the College of St. Elizabeth in Madison on Thursday at 4 o'clock.