CYCLONES WIN OPENER, 3-0, ON STENGTH OF FIRST INNING HOMERUN
JERSEY CITY, NJ…New Jersey City University overcame a 2-0 deficit in the fifth inning of game two, as sophomore designated player VANESSA SOLARES (Palisades Park, NJ/Palisades Park) delivered a RBI double, while junior second baseman KRISTY SKOWRONSKI (Bayonne, NJ/Holy Family Academy) and freshman shortstop SUSIE MATSUTANI (Gallup, NM/Gallup) followed with RBI singles, as the Gothic Knights defeated Centenary College, 3-2, in a Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball game at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
Centenary received a three-run homerun to left center in the top of the first inning in the opening game of the doubleheader by freshman center fielder Jessa Jones (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield), as the Cyclones won their first contest of the season, 3-0.
NJCU, the 2004 WIAC Champions, improve to 5-8 overall and 1-1 in the league. Centenary is 1-3 and 1-1. The all-time series, which began in 1981, in deadlocked at 10-10-1.
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In game one, sophomore catcher Megan Doucette (Mayetta, NJ/Southern Regional) and junior designated player Rachelle Farese (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) connected on back-to-back, two-out first-inning singles, and Jones lifted a 2-0 pitch over the left-center field fence, giving Centenary a 3-0 advantage with her first career homerun.
That was all the offense junior right-hander Samantha Olvera (Millersburg, PA/Millersburg Area) would need. She fired a 103-pitch four-hit complete-game shutout, scattering only singles, with four strikeouts and three walks, to improve to 1-1 overall.
After the first inning, senior right-hander TARA DeFILIPPO (Bayonne, NJ/Holy Family Academy) was also outstanding for NJCU. She only allowed just three hits in the final six innings of the game, but suffered the loss (3-4). In all, she allowed three earned runs and six hits, with one strikeout and three walks in seven innings.
No player on either squad had more than one hit in the game. NJCU threatened in the bottom of the sixth inning, with runners on second and third and two outs, but sophomore left fielder Dairomy Bolano (Paterson, NJ/Paterson Catholic) made a leaping, over-her-shoulder grab of a screaming line drive to save two runs.
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In game two, Skowronski, the reigning WIAC Player of the Week, and Matsutani, each went 2-for-3 with one RBI, while Solares was 1-for-2 with one run and one RBI. Senior first baseman LISA ASHBURN (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder) was 1-for-3 with a run.
Olvera, who played shortstop for Centenary in game two, was 2-for-3 with one run, while, Doucette added a 2-for-4 showing with one RBI.
NJCU senior right hander AYANA ABDUL-RAHEEM (Trenton, NJ/Trenton Central) earned the win for the Knights, scattering seven singles in a complete game effort, as she prevailed for the second time this season (2-4). Abdul-Raheem allowed one earned run (two total) with two strikeouts and five walks in a 125-pitch outing.
Senior right-hander Tiffany Long (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) dropped the decision to fall to 0-2. In six innings, she allowed three earned runs and six hits, with a walk and no strikeouts.
Centenary opened a 1-0 lead in the visitors’ third with a sacrifice fly by junior right fielder Danielle Newnom (Manchester, NJ/Manchester). The Cyclones tacked on a single run in the top of the fifth, to grab a 2-0 lead, when Doucette had a RBI infield single.
However, after not scoring in the first 11 innings of the doubleheader, NJCU got going in the fifth. Ashburn singled to left center with one out, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs on the board, Solares doubled to center field to score Ashburn. After sophomore center fielder PATRICIA DURNING (Keasbey, NJ/Woodbridge) walked, Solares stole third, and Skowronski laced a RBI single to center to tie the game at 2-2. Matsutani drove the first pitch she faced up the middle to score Durning with the eventual winning run. Centenary left two runners stranded in the top of the seventh, with a chance to tie.
Weather permitting, NJCU will return to action on Saturday, April 2 at 12pm with a non-conference home doubleheader against Rutgers University-Newark.
—www.njcugothicknights.com—
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GAME 1: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 | Jersey City, NJ |
|
Centenary College (1-2) |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
2 |
|
New Jersey City University (4-8) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
WP: Samantha Olvera (1-1). LP: TARA DEFILIPPO (3-4). HR: C-Jessa Jones (1). |
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GAME 2: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 | Jersey City, NJ |
|
Centenary College (1-3) |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
0 |
|
New Jersey City University (5-8) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
X |
3 |
6 |
1 |
|
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