Game 1 - Box Score
Game 2 - Box Score
GLASSBORO, NJ – The Rowan University softball team split a New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) doubleheader at Rutgers-Camden on Thursday. The Scarlet Raptors won the first game, 3-2 and the Profs took the second, 6-3.
Rutgers-Camden has an 11-13 record with a 3-5 NJAC mark. Rowan is 19-8 overall and 5-3 in the conference. Right-hander Amanda Cassella (jr. Atco, NJ/Hammonton) pitched a complete game for the victory in the opener. Cassella (10-7) scattered seven hits and gave up two earned runs. Righty Amanda Singer (jr. Monmouth Jct., NJ/East Brunswick) took the loss. She (12-4) allowed four hits and three unearned runs. Singer struck out five batters.
Catcher Erika Drayton (jr. Blackwood, NJ/Triton Reg.) recorded two hits (three at bats), a double and one run scored. Casella contributed with one hit in three at bats and two RBIs. Right fielder Vicki D’Anduono (jr. Lanoka Harbor, NJ/Lacey Twp.) had one hit in two at bats. Left fielder Christina Tamburrino (so. Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown) tallied one RBI.
For the Profs, shortstop Ashley Minch (jr. Pennsville, NJ/Pennsville Mem.) totaled three hits in four at bats and a double. Center fielder Nicolina Veneziano (jr. Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) was one for three with one RBI and one run scored. First baseman Stephanie Labas (so. Millville, NJ/Millville) added two hits (three at bats) and second baseman Ashley Landi (sr. Vineland, NJ/Vineland) had one RBI.
Rutgers-Camden scored all three of its runs in the bottom of the third inning. Cassella singled home third baseman Danielle Meng (so. Pennsauken, NJ/Pennsauken) and second baseman Brooke Keenan (sr. Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape). Tamburrino was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, scoring Drayton.
Rowan got on the scoreboard with one run in the fourth. Veneziano led off with a single and later came home on Landi’s sacrifice fly. The Profs cut the deficit to one (3-2) with one run in the seventh. Labas reached base with a single and was replaced by pinch runner Nicole Escudero (so. Marlton, NJ/Cherokee). Escudero crossed the plate on a sac fly by Veneziano.
Right-hander Jamie Minix (jr. Clarksboro, NJ/Kingsway Reg.) was the winning pitcher in the second game. In five innings, she (7-4) gave up four hits and three earned runs. Singer was on the mound for the final two innings for her first save. Cassella pitched five innings and suffered the loss. She (10-8) allowed seven hits and five earned runs.
Labas paced the Profs with two hits (three at bats), a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. Third baseman Julie Leskanic (jr. West Milford, NJ/West Milford) collected one hit (three at bats), two RBIs and one run scored. Landi chipped in with two hits (four at bats), a double, one RBI and two runs scored. Minch went two for three with one run scored.
For the Scarlet Raptors, Cassella recorded a two run homer. Keenan had two hits in three trips to the plate and scored two runs. Meng added one hit in two at bats.
Rutgers-Camden was ahead 3-0 after scoring one run in the first inning and two in the third. Keenan got on base with a single in the first and crossed the plate on an error with Drayton at bat. In the third, Cassella had a two run shot that scored Keenan who led off with a walk.
Rowan trailed 3-2 after scoring two runs in the fourth. Pinch hitter Ashlie Gaynor (jr. Berlin, NJ/Eastern Reg.) walked with the bases loaded to score Landi. Labas came home on a ground out after getting on base with a single. The Profs took the lead (5-3) in the bottom of the fifth with three runs. Landi drove in Minch with a double and Labas recorded d a two run homer. Leskanic registered a solo shot in the sixth for the final run.
Rowan will host Montclair State University on Saturday, April 16 at 1 p.m.
