BOX SCORE (Game #1)
BOX SCORE (Game #2)

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

WAYNE, N.J. – The William Paterson softball team (22-6, 7-3 NJAC) saw its win streak snapped at nine with a 2-1, 1-2 split against visiting Rutgers-Newark (12-17, 1-9 NJAC) April 14.

GAME ONE
A pinch-hit bloop single by freshman Keanna Ross (Pine Hill, N.J./Overbrook Senior) helped to ignite a two-run fifth inning and give WP a 2-1 victory.

Ross opened the fifth when she dropped a base hit into shallow left-center field.  Freshman outfielder Kelsey Principe (Parsippany, N.J./Parsippany) re-entered to run and promptly stole second, and senior third baseman Jessica Maciolek (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) sacrificed Principe to third.  Sophomore shortstop Katelyn Miele (Flanders, N.J./Pope John XXIII) delivered a RBI-single to right field, and after she was caught stealing, freshman second baseman Christina Austin (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) got on base thanks to a two-out, two-base error.  Junior outfielder Samantha Mulderig (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) then drilled a grounder through the left side of the infield to plate Austin and make it a 2-0 game.

The Scarlet Raiders rallied during their final trip to the plate, started by a Monica Bagan leadoff single to right field.  Following a popup, junior outfielder Nicole Odell lined a double into left center to plate Bagan,  Junior pitcher Kelsey Hand (Mountainville, N.Y./Cornwall Central) snuffed out any Rutgers-Newark hopes of tying things up with a strikeout and flyout to end the game.

Freshman first baseman Jessica Phillips (Woolwich, N.J./Kingsway Regional) was 3-for-3 with a double, and Miele went 2-for-3 and drove in a run.  Hand (6-1) struck out four and walked one, scattering three hits in the complete-game victory.

Sophomore Liane Drastal fell to 5-11, allowing nine hits and two runs (one earned) for Rutgers-Newark. 

GAME TWO
Rutgers-Newark snapped William Paterson's nine-game win streak with a 2-1 victory during the night cap.

Freshman shortstop Victoria Sovak started the game with a single that Principe allowed to go through her legs and to the fence, resulting in a single and two-base error.  Junior third baseman Monica Liotto picked her up two batters later with a grounder to the right side of the infield, giving the Scarlet Raiders a quick 1-0 advantage.  Sovak then doubled that lead with a solo homer over the left-field fence to start the sixth inning.

WP tried to piece together a rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.  Freshman third baseman Melissa Swain (West Berlin, N.J./Paul VI) hammered a double into the left-center gap to leadoff, and following a groundout, senior outfielder Raquel Roder (Hoboken, N.J./Hoboken) was hit by a pitch to give the Pioneers runners on first and second with one out.  Sophomore pitcher Rachel Cannata (Waldwick, N.J./Paramus Catholic) stepped into the batter's box and hit a ball sharply to the base of the wall in the right, a double that was enough to plate Swain but not enough to score Roder, as she was tagged out up the line.  Cannata moved up to third base on the throw home, but Drastal replaced starter Brianna Alicchio, and she immediately induced pinch hitter Hand into the game-ending final out with the tying run 60 feet away.

Cannata was 2-for-3 with a RBI-double to lead the Pioneer offense, but she suffered the loss inside the circle (3-2), allowing two runs (one earned) and four hits while striking out five.

Sovak paced Rutgers-Newark with her 2-for-3 effort, including a home run while scoring both runs.  Alicchio (7-6) gave up one run on five hits in 6.2 innings, and Drastal recorded the final out for her first save.

William Paterson will play a doubleheader at The College of New Jersey Tuesday, April 17, at 3:00 p.m.