New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score BOX SCORE

CAPE CORAL, FL (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University junior catcher MARISSA BARISO (Hewitt, NJ/West Milford) drove in two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning as the Gothic Knights rallied to upset the College of Wooster, 2-1, in the opening game of the fourth day of the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on March 14 at the Northwest Cape Coral Complex Field 4.

NJCU (4-3) did not collect a hit until the fourth inning and won despite only having four hits in the game. Wooster (5-2) lost for just the second time as the Gothic Knights won for the fourth time in six outings behind stellar pitching from senior right-hander ASHLEY O'BEIRNE (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Immaculate Conception).
 
NJCU has not scored more than four runs in any of the first seven games of the season and registered two or fewer runs for the fifth time, yet won again. The Knights won for the third time in a game where it produced four or fewer hits. NJCU committed two errors but they did not lead to a Wooster run; the Fighting Scots were errorless.
 
O'Beirne improved to 4-2 on the season for NJCU, striking out five Wooster batters while issuing just a pair of walks over 119 pitches. She scattered just five hits in the win, including four singles, while limiting an opponent to two or fewer runs for the fifth game in a row. Her ERA fell to a meager 1.04 after the game.
 
Bariso had both RBIs in a 1-for3 effort while senior third baseman REBECCA SATZ (Morris Plains, NJ/Morristown) was 1-for-3 with one run and her 163^rd career hit. Junior right fielder CASEY PEREZ (West New York, NJ/Academy of the Holy Angels) scored the other NJCU run and had two steals in the game.    
 
Senior righty Gina Pirolozzi (Canton, OH) endured the tough loss despite a solid performance on the mound for Wooster, allowing two runs and four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks over 84 pitches to fall to 3-1.
 
Sophomore left fielder Demi Hart (Shreve, OH) was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Wooster while sophomore catcher Paige Goldberg (Hawthorn Woods, IL) scored the lone Scots' run.

Wooster struck first in the top of the opening inning when the Scots loaded the bases—on back-to-back singles and a walk. Hart reached on a fielder's choice to shortstop and Goldberg, who led off with a single, scored when the Knights got the force at third. Wooster reloaded the bases on a two-out infield error before O'Beirne got Pirolozzi to hit into a fielder's choice to end the threat. Wooster also had two runners on base in the second and one each in the third and fifth innings, but O'Beirne held the Scots off the board.

Pirolozzi would pitch a no-hitter until the bottom of the fourth where junior second baseman MAXINE KAMINSKI (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) singled to right field with two outs.
 
The Knights were finally able to get on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth as Perez led off the inning with a single to third that was quickly followed by a Satz single to the pitcher before Perez and Satz pulled off a double steal. After a strikeout and infield pop fly retired the next two batters, Bariso came through in the big spot, singling to left on the first pitch she saw to knock in Perez with the tying run and Satz with the eventual winner.
 
In the top of the seventh, Wooster led off with a single before O'Beirne thwarted any hopes of a come-from-behind win for the Scots as she fanned two batters in the frame. O'Beirne K'd Goldberg on three pitches before senior center fielder Erica Villa (Ashtabula, OH) ripped a line drive to shortstop where senior GABRIELLE RIVERA (Teaneck, NJ/Saint Joseph of the Palisades) made a phenomenal diving catch to help secure the victory. With two outs and one on, sophomore Skye Patterson (Wooster, OH) struck out on five pitches from O'Beirne to seal the win.