Photo by Steve Fallon
The Roadrunners’ softball team picked up a win and a tie in their doubleheader against Kean University on Tuesday. The Roadrunners won the first game 2-0 before posting a 4-4 tie in the second game.
In the 2-0 shutout, freshman Katrina Buczkowski pitched all seven innings and earned her ninth win of the season as she threw nine strikeouts and gave up just five hits to the Cougars.
Junior Melanie Walling scored both runs for the Roadrunners, which came in the second and fourth innings. Sophomore Grace Brennan earned an RBI on the eventual game winning run.
The second game ended in a 4-4 tie and was called at the end of the seventh inning due to darkness. Ramapo once again opened the scoring in the second inning as sophomore Nicole Mahoney scored the first home run of her career as she smashed the ball over the center field fence.
The Cougars would then score four unanswered runs with two in the third inning and two in the fifth inning to take a 4-1 lead as the sun was setting.
However, the Roadrunners came back with a strong three-run effort in the bottom of the fifth inning to tie the game at four runs apiece.
The Roadrunners had the bases loaded with no outs when junior Melissa Moreno hit a fly ball past first base to right field. The ball was caught for an out but gave senior Jaclyn Lima the opportunity to run home from third base.
Ramapo scored two more runs to tie the game before the teams played the final two innings scoreless. At the end of the second inning, the umpires called the game due to darkness.
Freshman Christina Brizek pitched the first four innings before fellow freshman Paige Merle came in for relief. They earned two strikeouts each and Merle did not allow a hit in the final two innings of the game.
With the wins, the Roadrunners pick up their 20th win of the season and improve their overall record to 20-7-1 and 9-2-1 in the NJAC. Their two NJAC losses came in a doubleheader against Rowan on April 6.
Ramapo is second behind Rowan, who is 10-2 in the NJAC Conference standings after a pair of losses to Kean on Saturday. The Roadrunners will play in their next NJAC contest, a doubleheader with Montclair, on Saturday.
The Roadrunners have three more sets of NJAC doubleheaders this season as they set their sights on a return to the NJAC Postseason Tournament. Ramapo softball has not made the Tournament since 2012, when they posted a 10-8 NJAC record.
After Montclair, the Roadrunners will visit Rutgers-Camden for a doubleheader on Wednesday before finishing their NJAC regular season when they host The College of New Jersey on April 25.
The Roadrunners are visiting Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa. for a nonconference doubleheader today.
mmontal1@ramapo.edu
