New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BOX SCORE vs. MCLA
BOX SCORE vs. SUNY Potsdam

CAPE CORAL, FL (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University senior pitcher/left fielder JESS MUCERINO (Whippany, NJ/Whippany Park) was 2-for-3 with a homerun and three RBIs in game one as the Gothic Knights crushed past Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), 15-1 in five innings in game one of two played on Tuesday at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic played at the Northwest Cape Coral Complex. In game two, NJCU had the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning but couldn't bring the tying run home and fell to SUNY Potsdam, 3-2.

NJCU is to 3-1 on the season after splitting the results on day two of four of its spring trip. Senior shortstop Megan Ginter (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) was a combined 4-for-8 in the doubleheader with three runs and three stolen bases and has seven steals in the first four games of the season.
NJCU handed MCLA (1-6) their sixth loss of the season by belting 15 hits and limiting the Trailblazers to one hit behind junior pitcher ASHLEY O'BEIRNE (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Immaculate Conception) in a game called after four and a half innings.
 
O'Beirne earned the win (2-0), striking out three (four walks) with one run and one hit allowed in seven innings. Offensively, six different Gothic Knights had multiple hits.
 
Sophomore catcher MARISSA BARISO (Hewitt, NJ/West Milford) scored four runs, going 1-for-4 with a steal and junior first baseman REBECCA SATZ (Morris Plains, NJ/Morristown) scored three runs in a 2-for-3 effort while finishing with seven putouts defensively. 
 
Mucerino was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, two runs and a homerun and Ginter scored twice, swiped two bases and was 2-for-4. Sophomore second baseman JANISSA CARDONA (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and freshman third baseman NICOLE CALIXTO (Elizabeth, NJ/Elizabeth) went 2-for-2 with three runs and a RBI. Freshman right fielder TAYLOR SETAR (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) batted 2-for-2.

MCLA junior pitcher Ainsley MacDonald (White River Jct., VT/Hartford) struck out three NJCU players and walked six in the loss (1-4).
 
The tone of the game was set early on as the Gothic Knights scored four runs in the first inning, sparked by a single to left field from Satz scoring Ginter to get NJCU on the scoreboard. Satz, Bariso and Calixto would later score on wild pitches to give the Gothic Knights a 4-0 lead over the Trailblazers.
 
MCLA would score their only run of the game in the top of the second inning when rookie centerfielder Kendra Hinkell (North Adams, MA) hit a single to left field. It was MCLA's only hit of the afternoon.
  
NJCU extended their lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the second as Cardona had a two-run infield single that scored Bariso and Satz.
 
The Gothic Knights tacked on five more runs in the bottom of the third for an 11-1 lead. Mucerino had an RBI double, and Calixto and Cardona each added RBI singles in the inning. Two runs came home on passed balls.
A Mucerino two-run homer to left field extended the Gothic Knights lead to 13-1 and highlighted the bottom of the fourth inning. It was her second homer of the season and fourth in two years at NJCU. Another run scored on a wild pitch before freshman right fielder JESSICA CHANDLER (Fountain Hills, AZ/Fountain Hills) capped the run production with an RBI single.
  In the second game against SUNY Potsdam, NJCU had set the stage for a comeback win in the bottom of the seventh inning when they loaded the bases up with no outs, but were unable to capitalize offensively as the game ended with three Gothic Knights players left on base.
 
In a pitcher's duel for both teams, Mucerino (1-1) suffered the hard-luck loss, allowing just three hits. She struck out five and walked four. Only one of the three runs she allowed was earned.
 
Sophomore pitcher Ashley Thayer (Winthrop, NY) had an outstanding performance on the mound for the Bears, striking out 10 NJCU batters versus four walks.  Thayer improved to 3-1 for the season. NJCU managed one earned run (two total) and six hits.
 
Ginter led NJCU with a 2-for-4 effort and one run while Satz batted 1-for-4 with one RBI. Mucerino, Calixto and senior center fielder STEPHANIE GOMEZ (South Plainfield, NJ/Belleville) each had one hit.
 
NJCU would get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning when junior designated hitter GABRIELLE RIVERA (Teaneck, NJ/Saint Joseph of the Palisades) reached on a catcher's interference and scored when Satz grounded out to second base.
 
SUNY Potsdam would respond in the top of the fourth when senior Brittany Pawlowski (West Seneca, NY) keyed a three-run rally with a two-RBI single. Leading 2-1, junior second baseman Jenny Jones (Watertown, NY), who walked, moved to third on a fielder's choice and came around to score the eventual winning run on an aggressive advancement on a throw.
 
In the top of the fifth, Ginter singled with one out, stole second, moved to third on a two-out groundout and scored on a wild pitch to make it a one-run game before NJCU stranded two runners.
 
That led to the bottom of the seventh. Ginter, Mucerino and Satz had three consecutive singles to left field and the tying and winning runs were in scoring position with no one out. But Bariso fouled out to third base, Ginter was forced out at home on a fielder's choice and Cardona popped up to the pitch to end it.
 
NJCU will look to rebound from the loss to SUNY Potsdam on day three of its spring trip on Wednesday, March 14. The Knights head to Fort Myers, FL for a 9 a.m. game against Lasell College. Its 11 a.m. game against Nichols College was cancelled due to an early travel departure by the game two opponents, so the Knights will face Saint Mary's College (IN) as a replacement contest at 1 p.m.