CLERMONT, Fla. (March 15, 2016) - The Rutgers University-Newark softball team split a pair of games Tuesday in Clermont, Fla., dropping a tough 3-2 decision to Clarkson University in the opener, before bouncing back for a 6-1 victory over Becker College in the nightcap.

The Scarlet Raiders improve to 2-6 overall and will play two contests Wednesday before heading back to New Jersey for their 2016 home-opener slated for Saturday at 1 p.m. on Alumni Field against Swarthmore College.

The victory in the Becker game snapped a four-game skid for the Scarlet Raiders, with two of those defeats coming by just a single run.

Clarkson 3, Rutgers-Newark 2 - Game 1
Runs were at a premium in Tuesday's opener and the Scarlet Raiders held a late lead, but the Golden Knights scored two in the sixth to earn the 3-2 comeback win.

The Scarlet Raiders tallied six hits, getting two from senior Kelsey Lucas, two from sophomore Kelly Yusko and two from freshman Samantha Hoffman. Sophomore Sam Held had the Scarlet Raider RBI, with Yusko working the only walk.

Yusko pitched the first five innings, striking out four and allowing an unearned run on three hits. Sophomore Morgan Walizer tossed the final frame and was credited with the loss, giving up two earned runs.

A one-out double from Lucas, a walk and an error allowed for the first Scarlet Raider run to cross the plate in the first inning, and after Clarkson tied the game in the bottom of the third, the Scarlet Raiders went back up one in the sixth. Yusko led off the inning with a single, and after a sacrifice bunt from freshman Liesel Johnson, a Held sacrifice fly brought home Yusko.

Clarkson (7-4) would take the lead with two big runs on two hits and a walk in the sixth inning, and R-N would strand Hoffman after she singled with two down in the seventh in an effort to tie.

Junior Jamie Bridge earned the win in the circle for Clarkson, tossing a complete game.

Rutgers-Newark 6, Becker 1 - Game 2
The Scarlet Raiders plated two runs in the bottom half of the first inning and never looked back in picking up their second win of the season against the Hawks (1-4). Yusko earned the win, tossing a complete-game four-hitter with eight strikeouts.

The Scarlet Raider offense had five hits in the game, getting two from Johnson in a 2-for-4, three RBI performance. Yusko had one hit, one RBI and two runs scored, and Lucas had a walk and three runs. Held went 1-for-3 with an RBI, as did sophomore Elizabeth Marflak.

In the first, Marflak walked and Lucas reached on an error to set the table, and a Johnson double with one out plated the first Newark tally. A Held single accounted for the second RBI hit of the inning for the Scarlet Raiders.

Becker sliced the lead in half in the second with a run on two knocks, but Yusko settled in, allowing just two hits the rest of the way and finishing the game having retired the side in 4-of-7 innings.

Johnson's second two-run double of the game after back-to-back miscues to start the fifth inning gave Rutgers-Newark a 4-1 lead and gave Johnson her second and third RBI of the game. Walizer scored on an error after getting hit by a pitch to start the sixth, and Yusko doubled in Lucas for the final margin before slamming the door in the circle in the seventh.

Rutgers-Newark squares off with Stevenson University (9 a.m.) and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Wednesday.

NOTE: the statistics in these games are subject to change and will be re-posted Wednesday morning.