NEWARK, N.J. – Senior Alyssa Calderon (Fontana, CA/Etiwanda) recorded her 200th career hit and broke the school record for career runs batted in as the Caldwell University softball team won twice against Merrimack College, 6-1 and 8-4 in a non-conference doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Branch Brook Park. The Cougars improve to 6-8 with the wins, while the Warriors fall to 6-11.

Trailing 1-0 in Game 1, Caldwell pulled even on a single by junior Brielle Reighn (Runnemeade, NJ/Triton Reg.) that scored sophomore Amy Hickman (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Liberty) in the bottom of the third. In the fourth, senior Kristen Knorr (Monroeville, NJ/Delsea) singled home freshman Kortney Craker (San Marcos, CA/Mission Hills) for a 2-1 lead. Then in the fifth, Calderon tripled to score Reighn for her 200th career hit and third of the game. Freshman Marisa Monasseri (Monroe, NJ/Monroe Twp.) followed with a two-run home run to put the Cougars ahead, 5-1. Reighn tallied her third hit of the game in the sixth to plate junior Caitlin McCready (Jupiter, FL/Dwyer) for the game's final run.

Junior pitcher Amber Padilla (Chino, CA/Pomona Catholic) allowed an unearned run on four hits in seven innings to improve to 5-2.

The Cougars flexed their muscles in the second game, scoring eight runs in the first two innings on extra-base hits. Calderon hit her first home run of the season, a three-run shot in the first inning that tied her with former Caldwell standout Theresa Davison with 159 career RBIs. In the second inning, McCready tripled home Knorr and Hickman, then came home on a single by Reighn for a 6-0 lead. Calderon set the RBI school record with a two-run homer to make the score 8-0. She now has 161 RBIs in her outstanding career. Merrimack scored four times in the top of the fourth to cut the lead in half. But sophomore pitcher Sydney Ponto (West Deptford, NJ/West Deptford) blanked the Warriors on two hits the rest of the way.

Ponto gave up four runs on six hits while striking out eight in a complete-game win. Calderon went 3-for-3 with five RBIs, while Reighn, Craker and Hickman each had two hits.

Caldwell hosts Nyack College in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader on Tuesday, Mar. 31. The first game is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. at Caldwell Field.