NEWARK N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University was limited to two hits in each game as Rutgers-Newark collected a pair of shutout victories over the Gothic Knights in New Jersey Athletic Conference play, 3-0, and 8-0 in five innings on April 23 at Alumni Field.
 
Rutgers-Newark improved to 15-19 overall (3-11 NJAC) while the Gothic Knights are 10-18 (0-14 NJAC). The shutouts were the seventh and eighth this season by the Scarlet Raiders and the third and fourth in a row.
 
Game 1: Rutgers-Newark 3, New Jersey City 0
Junior right-handed pitcher Kelly Yusko (Portage, Pa.) struck out 10, walked none and scattered two hits in the 7.0 inning shutout win. She improved to 9-12 with the decision. Rutgers-Newark scored a run in the bottom of the first before adding a pair of runs in the fifth and had eight hits.
 
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) (Jersey City, N.J./Saint Dominic Academy) allowed just two earned runs for NJCU (7-15) against eight hits with two strikeouts and three walks.
 
RUN freshman shortstop Sarah Stiehler (Bloomsbury, N.J.) was 2-for-4 with two runs. Junior first baseman Morgan Schweitzer (Monroe Township, N.J.) batted 2-for-4 with a run and RBI.
 
RUN got the only run it needed in the first when Stiehler led off with a single and scored on a double by Schweitzer. Stiehler led off the fifth with a double and scored on another double by Yusko.
 
Game 2: Rutgers-Newark 8, New Jersey City 0 (5 innings)
Scarlet Raider junior righty Morgan Walizer (Forked River, N.J) also threw a two-hit shutout, striking out two (one walk) over 64 pitches in 5.0 innings to win (6-7). Mezey went the first 3.0 innings and took the loss for NJCU (7-16).
 
Schweitzer was 3-for-3 with three runs and one RBI to finish the doubleheader 5-for-7. Freshman left fielder Brittany Kalesse (Philadelphia, Pa.) drove in three RBIs and batted 3-for-3 with one run. Walizer helped her cause going 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. Stiehler was 2-for-3 (one RBI, one run).
 
Leading 1-0 after one inning, the Raiders scored four in the second and three in the fourth. Stiehler had an RBI triple, Walizer doubled in a run and Schweitzer and Kalesse singled to make it 4-0. Three runs in the fourth, coupled with NJCU going in order in the fifth enforced the eight-run rule.
 
OF NOTE:

• 73rd meeting: Rutgers-Newark leads all-time series, 38-35.
• Brittany Paulikas (Fords, NJ/JFK-Iselin) (Ford, N.J./John F. Kennedy Memorial) has 92 career hits—eight shy of becoming the 14th member of the softball 100-hit club and the first to reach the milestone in only three seasons.
• Doubleheader was the makeup of an April 22 rainout.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU will host the College of Staten Island in a non-conference doubleheader on Monday, April 24 (3 p.m.) at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. CSI is 26-6 overall and 12-0 in the City University of New York Athletic Conference. CSI beat No. 7 ranked Moravian College, 3-1, on the road on April 22 and has won 22 of its last 25 games. Staten Island leads the 'Bayonne Bridge Series', 29-17. Follow Live Stats or the Live Broadcasts for Games 1 and Games 2.
 
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