Ewing, NJ… The College of New Jersey softball team picked up a pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference wins on Saturday as the Lions took both ends of a doubleheader with Rutgers-Newark.
 
TCNJ claimed a 9-1 win in the first game behind a pair of home runs by junior Deanna Utter (Byram, NJ/Lenape Valley) and then broke a 2-2 tie in the second game with three unanswered runs on its way to a 5-2 triumph.
 
The wins keeps the Lions in the thick of the conference standings as they moved to 7-3 and they are 14-6 overall. The two losses dropped the Scarlet Raiders to 8-12 overall and 1-7 in the NJAC.
 
TCNJ hits the road for its next doubleheader as they head to Stockton University for two games against the Ospreys on Tuesday, April 14. The Scarlet Raiders are right back on the field tomorrow for another NJAC doubleheader at Ramapo College.
 
Game 1
TCNJ 9, Rutgers-Newark 1 (6 innings)
Utter had a huge game at the plate going 2-for-4 with five runs batted in with both of her hits being home runs.
 
Junior pitcher Ashtin Helmer (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) used that offensive support to pick up has sixth win of the season. She went six innings and struck out six.
 
The Lions jumped ahead early in the opening game as Utter hot at the plate as she belted a three-run homer. That extended her RBI streak to five straight games.
 
TCNJ made it 4-0 in the second when freshman Bria Bartsch (Montville, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy) singled down the right field line, scoring classmate Jess Stevenson (Belmar, NJ/Red Bank Regional)  from second.
 
The Scarlet Raiders got the scoreboard in the fourth inning as Kelsey Lucas (Flemington, NJ/Hunterdon Central) doubled and scored one batter later when Anna Carlson (Jefferson, NJ/Jefferson) also had a two-base hit.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, the Lions added three runs to extend the lead to 7-1. The first of those came on a sacrifice fly to left by sophomore Colleen Phelan (Tinton Falls, NJ/Monmouth Regional) and then a Rutgers-Newark miscue allowed another run to come home. The final run came on an infield single by junior Kristen Fitzsimmons (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial).
 
Utter ended the game in the last of the sixth making it an eight-run difference with her second homer. This blast was a two-run shot to center.
 
Also getting two hits in the win for the Lions were junior Jamie Purcell (Nutley, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic Academy) and Bartsch.
 
Picking up two hits for the Scarlet Raiders were Carlson and Toniann Donde (Shirley, NY/William Floyd).
 
Game 2
TCNJ 5, Rutgers-Newark 2
Just like the opening game, the Lions took the lead in their initial at bat. Bartsch led off the inning with a double to center and quickly moved up a base by stealing third. Phelan then lofted a sacrifice fly to right to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
 
That lead doubled in the second inning when Fitzsimmons, who doubled, scored on a base hit by sophomore Steph Vuono (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern).
 
Rutgers-Newark pulled even in the third with a pair of runs. The first came on a double by Donde and the other on an infield hit by Vanessa Romero (Garfield, NJ/St. Mary).
 
TCNJ reclaimed the lead in the fourth with back-to-back hits. Fitzsimmons singled and then stole second, before racing home on a single by Stevenson for a 3-2 lead.
 
The hosts added on some insurance in the sixth with freshman Madison Levine (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) and Phelan each plating a run with a single.
 
Junior Katie Hourihan (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) earned the win for the Lions and freshman Sam Platt (Cedar Grove, NJ/Mt. St. Dominic) picked up her first collegiate save recording all three outs in the seventh inning.
 
Four players had two hits apiece for the Lions. That quartet included Bartsch, Fitzsimmons, Stevenson and Levine.
 
Freshman Kelly Yusko (Portage, PA/Penn Cambria) had a solid game at the plate for the Scarlet Raiders, going 3-for-4 with a run scored.
 
Schedule changes announced
TCNJ has rescheduled a pair of doubleheaders. The Lions will head to DeSales University on Wednesday, April 15 for two games and then host Muhlenberg College for a twin bill on Sunday, April 19 at Dr. June Walker Field.