Mahwah, NJ: The Ramapo College softball team swept NJAC rival the College of New Jersey today at the Athletic Center with a shutout in game one 3-0 and an 8-2 win in game two. The Roadrunners improve to 19-7 overall and 9-1 in the NJAC while the Lions drop to 11-13 overall, 3-7 in the conference.
 
Game 1: Ramapo would score all the runs they would need in the bottom of the first inning. Jackie Howarth led off the inning with a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch before Harper Patsko was hit by a pitch with one out. Nicole Mahoney then laced a double to the left-centerfield gap plating both runs for a 2-0 lead.
 
In the second inning, Grace Brennan was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning before she moved to second on a sac bunt from Nicole Hernandez. Brennan moved to third base on a wild pitch before she later scored on a wild pitch to extend the Ramapo lead to 3-0.
 
Katrina Buczkowski (7-1) kept TCNJ off the board with four strikeouts, no walks and she scattered eight hits in the complete game. Mahoney led the team at the plate finishing 2-3 with two RBI.
 
Game 2: Ramapo belted out three home runs in game two as they came away with an 8-2 win. Brennan got the Roadrunners on the board in the bottom of the second inning when she hit a two-run home run over the left field wall as Kendra Decker scored. Decker reached on a fielder's choice earlier in the inning. In the third inning, Jackie Howarth reached on a double to center field before Ally Spellman singled. With two outs, Nicole Mahoney smacked her team leading sixth home run of the season, a three-run shot over the left field fence to extend the Roadrunner lead 5-0. Three walks loaded the bases for Ramapo in the bottom of the fifth inning before Hernandez walked on four pitches to plate the team's sixth run of the game. Shannon Cox then came home on a wild pitch for a 7-0 lead.
 
TCNJ got one run back in the sixth inning when Jess Santelli hit a solo home run before Ramapo added one run in the eighth when Jackie Howarth cracked her first collegiate home run of her career over the left-center field fence for an 8-1 lead. The Lions added one run in the top of seventh and threatened to score more but the Ramapo defense helped get the final two outs of the inning. Ramapo reliever Christina Brizek, who entered the game in the fourth inning, struck out a pinch hitter for TCNJ in the seventh before an error allowed Megan Hevey to reach base. Jenna Schwartz hit a pinch hit single down the right field line and tried to leg out a double before she was thrown out on a perfect relay. Right fielder Sisi Machinski fielded the ball in and throw to Spellman as she fired to Hernandez to apply the tag at second base for the second out of the inning. Hevey advanced to third on the hit before Annalise Suitovsky poked a single to left center to earn the RBI 8-2. A single from Santelli and a hit by pitch to Danielle Carey loaded the bases with two outs. Ramapo picked off Santelli at second base when Cox threw down to second base where Spellman applied the tag for the final out of the inning to seal the win for Ramapo.
 
Ramapo starting pitcher Erin Fitzsimmons earned a no-decision in the game working the first three innings. She struck out one, walked three and surrendered just two hits. Brizek (5-2) earned the win with three strikeouts, two walks as she scattered four hits in the game. Howarth and Spellman led the team with two hits while Mahoney collected three RBI.
 
The Roadrunners return to action on Tuesday, April 18th when they travel to William Paterson University for a key NJAC double header at 3:30pm. The Pioneers are currently on a 15-game win streak and are undefeated in NJAC action at 10-0. Ramapo sits in second place with a 9-1 conference record.