MADISON, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) |  Drew University limited the New Jersey City University softball team to two hits in each game and swept a non-conference doubleheader, 8-0 in six innings and 7-0, on April 23.
 
With the sweep, the Rangers improved to 8-24. NJCU is 2-28. The Rangers had 19 hits in the doubleheader.
 
GAME 1: Drew 8, NJCU 0 (6 innings)
The Rangers broke open a 1-0 game with seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Drew pitcher Emma Agostini (2-9) tossed a two-hit shutout, striking out five with a walk in 6.0 innings over 77 pitches.
 
Drew's seven-run game-ending outburst came via five hits, with the biggest a two-run double by center fielder Heather Ronchi (1-for-3, 2 RBIs) that made it 7-0 and pushed the winning run to third before the game ended when a passed ball forced across the eighth tally.
 
A double by junior first baseman Faith Ely (Vienna, NJ/Hackettstown) in the first inning was one of NJCU's two hits. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Brittany Paulikas (Fords, N.J./JFK-Iselin) took the loss for the Gothic Knights.  
 
Catcher Kate McNamara, second baseman Danielle Martinez, and first baseman Laura D'Ornellas each had two hits and a run scored.
 
GAME 2: Drew 7, NJCU 0
Leading 2-0, Drew scored four times in the fifth before winning in a regulation-length contest. Ronchi knocked in three runs for the Rangers and was 2-for-3 (1 run), posting a two-run double in the fifth.
 
Ely, who had a hit in each end of the twinbill, was 1-for-3 for NJCU. Senior left handed pitcher Ashley Latushko (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) took the loss for the Gothic Knights.
 
D'Ornellas (4-9) also produced a two-hit shutout in the nightcap, striking out one batter without issuing a walk over 77 pitches. She aided her own cause with an RBI. McNamara had two hits. Right fielder Phylicia Pellot was 2-for-4 with two runs in the leadoff spot and left fielder Brooke Adams scored twice.
 
OF NOTE:

• Drew leads the all-time series, 16-2 since the schools first met in 2001, and has won the last 16 meetings.
• NJCU has lost 13 straight games.

 
WHAT'S NEXT:
NJCU will celebrate Senior Day when it faces Rutgers University-Camden (18-11-1, 8-7 NJAC) on Saturday, April 25 at 1 p.m. in a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader in Jersey City, NJ.