UNION, N.J. (April 1, 2015) – The Rutgers-Newark softball team earned a split in a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader Wednesday at nationally-ranked Kean University.
 
The Scarlet Raiders earned a tight 4-3 win in the opener, before falling 9-6 in the nightcap. Rutgers-Newark moves to 7-7 overall and 1-3 in the NJAC, while Kean goes to 9-4 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
 
Game One
After the Cougars scored in the bottom half of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, the pitchers tossed up zeros for the next two frames. Freshman hurler Kelly Yusko was strong throughout for the Scarlet Raiders, going a full seven and allowing nine hits, three earned runs and two strikeouts to earn her second win of the season (2-1).
 
The Scarlet Raiders pulled even in the fourth as senior Toniann Donde fought her way on with a one-out single, advancing to second after a passed ball. Freshman Kayla Gallo followed with an RBI single to tie things at one.
 
Kean took the lead in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a two-run homer from freshman Cayleen Rizzo – her second of the game, but Rutgers-Newark found a way to come back in the seventh. Freshman Sam Held started the rally with a single and junior Kelsey Lucas reached base after being hit by a pitch.  Sophomore Anna Carlson loaded the bases with a single, and after an out, a Donde single made it a 3-2 game. The second force out at home of the inning brought the Scarlet Raiders to their last out, but a Cougar error on a hard hit grounder off the bat of junior Vannessa Romero allowed two runs to score, giving the guests their first lead of the game.
 
In the bottom half the seventh, a leadoff walk made things interesting, but Yusko slammed the door, getting a strikeout to end the game and give Rutgers-Newark the win.
 
Lucas, Donde, Gallo and Romero all had two hits in game one with Donde and Gallo pocketing an RBI each. The Raiders finished with 10 hits in total.
 
Game Two
Rutgers-Newark took an early 2-0 lead after a Donde double in the first, and the Scarlet Raiders went up 4-1 thanks to a two-run single from Carlson in the third. However, Kean was able to put up crooked numbers in the fourth and fifth innings to open a 9-4 edge heading to the sixth.
 
Despite trailing by five, R-N fought, plating two runs on a Carlson double, but it was too little too late as the Scarlet Raiders fell by a score of 9-6.
 
Carlson went 3-for-4 with four RBI's in game two, and Yusko went 2-for-4. Held was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
 
Rutgers-Newark totaled 20 total hits in the doubleheader.
 
The Scarlet Raiders will return to action with a home doubleheader at Alumni Field on Friday, April 3 against NJAC rival William Paterson University. The first pitch of the opener is slated for 2 p.m.