MAHWAH, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Sophomore right-hander Brittany Paulikas (Fords, NJ/JFK-Iselin) hit a solo homerun in game one to trim the deficit to 2-1, but the Gothic Knights struggled offensively as Ramapo College swept a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader, 12-1 and 9-1, both in five innings on April 2.
 
Ramapo (13-5, 4-0 NJAC) limited the Knights (1-13, 0-4 NJAC) to five hits in the doubleheader while collecting 23. NJCU had eight errors in the two games.
 
GAME 1: Ramapo 12, NJCU 1 (5 innings)
Ramapo scored seven times in the second inning to break open a one-run game and scored in each of the first four frames before the eight-run rule came into effect.
 
Paulikas was 1-for-2 with a leadoff homer to left in the second inning after Ramapo scored two unearned runs in the first inning.
 
Four players had multiple hits for the Roadrunners. Outfielder Danielle Saporito was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs, second baseman Kim LaPenta scored three times with two RBIs (2-for-4) and two doubles and third baseman Mikayla Melendez went 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored. Left fielder Grace Brennan was 2-for-3.
 
Katrina Buczkowski won (6-2), allowing one run and three hits in 5.0 innings over 66 pitches. She walked three and fanned one. Paulikas (1-5) took the loss for NJCU.
 
Ramapo had 12 batters come to the plate in the second inning and had seven hits in the inning. A two-run single by Saporito and an RBI double by LaPenta turned a 2-1 game into a 5-1 differential before RCNJ tacked on four more in the inning.
 
GAME 2: Ramapo 9, NJCU 1 (5 innings)
Ramapo outhit NJCU, 9-2 and scored in all five innings in the 9-1 result. NJCU committed six errors in the loss.
 
Senior left-handed pitcher Ashley Latushko (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) was 1-for-2 with an RBI for the Knights and allowed only four earned runs on the mound (five walks, nine hits) in 4.1 innings.
 
Christina Brizek won for RCNJ (4-3), striking out five against three walks, one run and two hits over 89 pitches. The Roadrunners didn't have a player with multiple hits in the nightcap but Brennan scored three times and shortstop Alexandria Rigoli walked and scored twice.
 
After scoring once in the first on an RBI double by designated player Melanie Walling, RCNJ tallied two in the second on an RBI single by Saporito and a sacrifice fly by LaPenta. Latushko made it a 3-1 game with a two-out single in the third.
 
But Ramapo scored three more times in the bottom of the third as the Knights committed three errors and added two more in the fourth on RBI doubles by Brennan and Rigoli. A bases-loaded single in the bottom of the fifth by first baseman Ally Spellman knocked in the ninth run to account for the final eight-run margin.
 
OF NOTE:

• 64th and 65th meetings. Ramapo leads the all-time series, 51-14 and has won the last 26 meetings.
• Doubleheader was a makeup of a March 31 postponement.

 
WHAT'S NEXT:
On Saturday, April 4, NJCU will host 25th ranked The College of New Jersey (9-5, 2-2 NJAC) at 1 p.m. in an NJAC doubleheader at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. The Lions moved into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association NFCA Division III Top 25 for the first time on April 1 and are tied for 25th. TCNJ leads the all-time series, 33-1, with NJCU's win (4-3) coming on April 20, 2013 when the Lions were ranked 20th.
 
The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Friday, April 3 but has been pushed back a day due to a forecast of heavy rain.