Highlights
NEWARK, N.J. (April 20, 2017) – Behind complete-game shutouts from juniors
Kelly Yusko and
Morgan Walizer, the Rutgers University-Newark softball team swept Baruch College in a non-conference doubleheader on Alumni Field.
The Scarlet Raiders took the opener by a 4-0 final, and Newark won the nightcap by a score of 2-0.
R-N is now 13-19 on the season, and the Raiders return to the diamond Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. with a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader against New Jersey City University on Alumni Field. Baruch drops to 9-11.
"It's always great to get two wins," said Head Coach
Kristen Hunt after the games. "We have been starting to play better softball, and hopefully we can carry the momentum into Saturday's conference doubleheader."
Rutgers-Newark 4, Baruch 0
Yusko tossed a complete-game two-hitter with five strikeouts to lead the Scarlet Raiders to the game-one win, picking up her eighth victory of the season (8-12). It was the eighth time she went the distance and her second shutout.
Newark totaled seven hits and junior captain
Elizabeth Marflak went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Freshman
Sarah Stiehler went 1-for-2 with two RBI and a walk, junior
Morgan Schweitzer had a hit and run scored, and freshman
Brittany Kalesse was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Freshman
Samantha Hoffman was 1-for-3 with a run scored and Yusko tallied a hit in three turns at the dish.
Rutgers-Newark broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning as Schweitzer led off the inning with a double, and Kalesse singled her home one out later.
Yusko sent down six of the next seven Baruch batters to keep her team in front, and the Scarlet Raiders added three insurance runs in the sixth. Marflak singled home Hoffman with two outs, and the next better – Stiehler – came through with a base hit bring home Marflak and junior
Sam Held who reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning.
In the seventh, Yusko slammed the door, retiring the side in order.
Rutgers-Newark 2, Baruch 0
Walizer went the distance in the second game to earn her fifth triumph of the season, scattering three hits and striking out a season-best nine. It was her fifth complete-game of the year and third shutout.
Baruch did not tally its first hit until there were two outs in the fourth inning, and Walizer never allowed more than one runner to reach base in any inning.
Rutgers-Newark went on top 1-0 in the second inning. Yusko singled to lead off and advanced to second on a wild pitch. An infield single from Kalesse put runners on the corners with nobody out, and a Hoffman ground out plated Yusko.
The Scarlet Raiders would remain on top by one until the bottom half of the sixth when Held led off with a triple, and Stiehler singled her home with two outs.
Walizer was able to work around a lead-off base runner in the seventh to lock down the team's 13th victory of the year.
Stiehler led the offense, going 2-for-4 with an RBI, with Yusko (2-for-3, R), Kalesse (2-for-3) and Held (2-for-3, R) all notching multiple hits. Schweitzer and Hoffman (RBI) each tallied one of the team's 10 knocks in the contest.
