Little Falls, NJ (04/19/03) - The Montclair State University softball team, ranked seventh overall nationally in NCAA Division III, split a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader today with first-place Rutgers-Camden at MSU's Quarry Field. The visiting Scarlet Raptors posted a 3-2 victory in eight innings in Game One, while the host Red Hawks claimed Game Two by a 6-1 count. Montclair State is now 23-5 overall and 6-4 in NJAC play this year, while Rutgers-Camden is 20-6 to date and 10-4 in league games.

Montclair senior catcher TONYA BARNES(Mechanicsville, VA/Atlee) paced the Red Hawks offensively by hitting 4-for-6 (.667) on the day with a double and two RBIs, going 2-for-3 in the opener as MSU was done in by five errors, including three in the eighth inning in falling to 1-2 in extra-inning games this season. Rutgers-Camden sophomore left fielder BECKY JOHNSON (Bridgeton, NJ/Cumberland) was 1-for-3 for the Scarlet Raptors, tying the first game on a fourth-inning home run to center, her second round-tripper of the season. Red Hawk junior pitcher CRYSTAL SWEENEY (Edison, NJ/Edison) fell to 13-3 this spring with the loss, allowing just five hits and one earned run while striking out six batters in eight innings. Freshman hurler JAMIE WHITE (Burlington, NJ/Burlington City) improved to 2-0 in pitching four innings of relief for Rutgers-Camden, limiting MSU to just two hits and one run while fanning three Red Hawks in all.

Montclair grabbed a 3-1 lead after four innings in the rematch and never looked back in winning its fifth game in its last six outings overall, and fifth in its last six meetings with Rutgers-Camden since 2001 when the NJAC softball schedule expanded to include all member schools. Barnes again went 2-for-3 with an RBI while also scoring a run, while sophomore right fielder JOELLE FATA (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) and junior center fielder STEPHANIE ROMANKO (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) both finished 2-for-4. Fata also scored twice and batted in a run while MSU freshman pitcher KERRY LEE (Florence, NJ/Northern Burlington) improved to 6-1 this season, surrendering just four hits over four innings of work. Sweeney collected her third save of the spring, allowing just three hits over the final three frames. Johnson took the loss for the Scarlet Raptors, falling to 8-4 in 2003 after giving up six runs and 11 hits in seven innings, walking six batters and fanning four.