Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
Newark, NJ...Head Coach Sally Miller collected her 400th career win as The College of New Jersey softball team remained undefeated in conference play with a doubleheader sweep at Rutgers University-Newark on Saturday.
The Lions gave Coach Miller that milestone victory in the opener with a 1-0 triumph and completed the sweep with a 4-3 win in extra innings.
TCNJ, which is ranked eighth in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association, is now 20-4 on the season and 6-0 in New Jersey Athletic Conference play. The loss knocked the Scarlet Raiders to 9-15 overall and 0-6 in the conference.
With the first win, Miller became the 45th NCAA Division III coach all-time and is the 33rd active Division III coach to reach the 400-win plateau. Miller, who is in her 15th season at the helm of TCNJ's program, has a career mark of 401-180-2.
The Lions continue conference play at home on Tuesday, April 13 hosting Richard Stockton College for a pair of games starting at 3 p.m. Rutgers-Newark is also in action on Tuesday taking on Montclair State University at home in a 1 p.m. start.
Game 1
TCNJ 1, Rutgers-Newark 0
The Lions scored the only run of the game in their opening at bat as Crystal Lee (Dover, NJ/Morris Knolls) tripled and raced home on a sacrifice fly by Kelly Hommen (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood).
That run was all senior Ashley Minervini (Cliffside Park, NJ/Cliffside Park) would need as she fired a one-hit shutout with nine strikeouts.
Lee finished the game going 2-for-3 at the plate.
On the mound for Rutgers-Newark, Angela Riscinti (Linden, NJ/Linden) pitched well in defeat yielding that lone run on three hits.
Game 2
TCNJ 4, Rutgers-Newark 3 (8 innings)
TCNJ completed the sweep scoring a run with one out in the bottom of the eighth as Hommen again delivered with a sacrifice fly as the Lions hit the 20-win plateau for the season.
Like the opener, TCNJ got on the board early as senior Ellen Seavers (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) tripled and scored on a bunt by Dani Hagel (Egg Harbor City, NJ/Oakcrest) in the second inning.
In the third, the Lions added two more runs making it a 3-0 as Rebecca Florczyk (Teaneck, NJ/Teaneck) led off the inning with a triple and scored one batter later when Lee doubled down the left-field line. Lee then scored on a ground out by Hommen.
The Scarlet Raiders tied the game in the top of the seventh as Nicole Odell (Hammonton, NJ/St. Joseph's) tripled with the bases loaded setting up TCNJ's extra-inning win in the eighth.
Lion hurler Lauren Fitzsimmons (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) picked up her team-leading 11th win of the season as she went the distance allowing those three runs on three hits with a dozen strikeouts.