Mahwah, NJ: The Ramapo College softball team clinched the #2 seed in the 2015 NJAC Softball Tournament with a sweep over rival the College of New Jersey today. The Roadrunners won game one 7-3 while they took game two 5-2. Ramapo improves to 24-11-1 overall, 13-4-1 in the conference while the Lions fall to 19-10 overall, 12-6 in the NJAC.
 
Ramapo jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with four unearned runs. Nicole Mahoney and Grace Brennan drove home two runs each with back-to-back singles for the early lead.
 
In the bottom of the fifth the Roadrunners added two runs when Melissa Moreno drilled a two-run home run over the right field wall plating Melanie Walling who singled earlier in the inning for a 6-0 lead.
 
TCNJ got on the board in the top of the sixth inning when Deanna Utter recorded her sixth home run of the season. Utter knocked in Christine Desiderio who reached on an error earlier in the inning.
 
Ramapo added one run in the sixth inning for a 7-2 lead. Brennan led off with a double before Nicole Hernandez and Jaclyn Lima each singled to load the bases. Kim LaPenta poked a single through the left side of the infield plating Brennan before TCNJ recorded the final two outs of the inning not allowing the Roadrunners more runs. The Lions added one run in the seventh on an infield single 3-7 before the Roadrunners recorded the final out of the game for the win.
 
Ramapo starting pitcher Katrina Buczkowski (11-5) struck out six and walked none while she scattered six hits in the complete game win. Ramapo belted out 11 hits in the game LaPenta, Brennan and Lima each collected two hits apiece while Moreno, Mahoney and Brennan all recorded two RBI.
 
In game two, Ramapo took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning before TCNJ came back to tie the game 2-2 with two runs of their own. Mahoney and Brennan hit back-to-back singles to start the second inning before Hernandez laced a double to right field plating Mahoney. Lima them drove home Brennan with an infield single for the 2-0 lead. In the top of the third for the Lions, Bria Bartsch led off the inning with a home run before Jess Stevenson drove home Utter with a single to left.
 
Hernandez put the Roadrunners in the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning with her first career home run over the left field fence for the 3-2 lead. In the sixth inning, Brennan gave Ramapo a few insurance runs when she hit her team leading sixth home run of the season over the left field fence. The two-run home run was on the eighth pitch of the at-bat as she drove home Mahoney who singled earlier in the inning for a 5-2 lead.
 
Ramapo starting pitcher Paige Merle earned the win as she improved to 5-1 overall. Merle struck out two and walked two while she scattered five hits over four innings of work. Katrina Buczkowski worked the final three innings for the Roadrunners she struck out one and let up only one hit.
 
Ramapo earned the #2 seed in the upcoming NJAC Softball Tournament and will host #5 Kean University on Tuesday at 4:00pm .