New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BOX SCORE: Game 1 | Game 2
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athlete feature, MAXINE KAMINSKI

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior right-hander ASHLEY O'BEIRNE (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Immaculate Conception) tossed her fourth shutout of the season and rookie right fielder THALIA GARCIA (Ridgefield, NJ/North Bergen) drove in all three runs in game one and scored a run in game two as New Jersey City University split a non-conference doubleheader against visiting Baruch College, blanking the Bearcats 3-0 in game one before falling in six innings in the second game, 10-2, at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex on March 21.
 
NJCU remains at .500 on the season with a 5-5 ledger despite not scoring more than four runs in any of the first 10 games of the season. Baruch (1-5) earned its first win of the season as the schools split a doubleheader for the second year in a row.
 
Senior third baseman REBECCA SATZ (Morris Plains, NJ/Morristown) scored three runs and was 3-for-6 overall for the day while raising her batting average to .467. All three of her hits were doubles.
  In the opener, NJCU scored twice in the third and once again in the fifth and that was enough as O'Beirne allowed just four singles en route to the shutout. O'Beirne (5-3) had just three shutouts in her first three collegiate seasons before more than doubling that total as a senior. She struck out two and walked two and overcame two Gothic Knight errors to strand eight Bearcats on base.
 
Garcia had a third of NJCU's six hits in the opener, going 2-for-3 with three RBIs. Satz was 2-for-3 with two runs and a double. Freshman first baseman FAITH ELY (Vienna, NJ/Hackettstown) scored the other NJCU run.
  
Senior pitcher Nicole Flint (Brentwood, NY) suffered the loss (0-2), allowing six hits and three runs (one earned) while striking out eight batters without issuing a walk. Offensively, she was 1-for-3.
 
Junior first baseman Olivia Auman (Queens, NY), sophomore center fielder Chelsea DeGuzman (Winter Garden, FL) and sophomore left fielder Courtney White (Bronx, NY) accounted for the other three Bearcat hits.
 
NJCU got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third when Garcia deposited her first collegiate extra base hit—a two-run double—into center field to score Ely, who was hit by a pitch, and Satz, who reached on a fielder's choice after a one-out Baruch error.
 
The Gothic Knights would strike again in the fifth as Satz doubled with two outs, stole third and scored on an RBI single to right from Garcia.
 
Baruch's best scoring chance came in the first when it loaded the bases after two leadoff singles and a one-out error before O'Beirne got the final two batters to fly to left and ground to second. Baruch had two runners on in the top of the sixth after a two-out single by White and a walk, before Satz made a key defensive play at third to end the inning. O'Beirne coaxed Baruch into two fly outs and a liner to short in the seventh to seal it. In game two, Baruch's bats woke up—producing 15 hits while doubling its season output for extra bases with three, and the Bearcats took advantage of four Gothic Knight errors to score six unearned runs. Baruch left 11 runners on base but prevailed after six innings due to the eight-run rule. NJCU scored twice on six hits but couldn't plate a run after the third inning.
 
Offensively, NJCU saw another productive effort from Garcia who was 1-for-2 with a run scored after batting 1-for-23 in the first eight games of her career. Satz was 2-for-3 with two doubles—the 44^th and 45^th of her career—and scored the other run. Senior shortstop GABRIELLE RIVERA (Teaneck, NJ/Saint Joseph of the Palisades) and freshman JULIANA JACOBSON (Bayonne, NJ/Bayonne) each tallied an RBI for the Knights.
 
After pitching in the game one victory and making her ninth start of the season, fatigue finally caught up with O'Beirne as she suffered the loss in game two (5-4). In 5.0 innings, she allowed four earned runs on 13 hits with one strikeout and two walks. Jacobson pitched an inning of relief for O'Beirne and struck out two Baruch batters while allowing two hits and a walk against one unearned run.
 
Rookie pitcher Christine Bowman (Warrenton, VA) picked up her first win of the season for Baruch (1-1), allowing two runs and six hits while striking out three batters (two walks) in 6.0 innings. Offensively, she was 2-for-2 with RBIs.
 
DeGuzman was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and one run while sophomore third baseman Toniann Donde (Shirley, NY) produced two runs and an RBI in a 4-for-5 effort. Sophomore first baseman Deena Farrell (Hicksville, NY) and Flint each tallied an RBI and run.
 
Also for Baruch, senior catcher Megan Ruiz (Staten Island, NY) and junior shortstop Maria Vlahopoulos (Bronx, NY) each scored two runs and Ruiz was 2-for-5. Senior right fielder Regina Cardinale (Whitestone, NY) drove in a run. Junior left fielder Gianna Doukas (Mount Kisco, NY) scored the other Bearcat run.
 
NJCU got on the scoreboard in the first as Jacobson doubled to left field to score Garcia who reached on a fielder's choice. Satz had led off the inning with a double but was caught at third base on a solid defensive play by the Bearcats.
 
After a two-out error extended the second inning, Baruch capitalized, scoring three runs. Ruiz doubled and scored on a two-run double by DeGuzman to left center before coming home on a Donde single to right center.
 
Two third inning errors extended the inning again and Baruch took advantage. A dropped fly in right field allowed the first run to score and Farrell added an RBI single.
 
NJCU would score its second run in the bottom of the third as Rivera singled up the middle to plate Satz, who again led off with a double, to make it a 5-2 ballgame. But Cardinale made it 6-2 in the top of the fourth with an RBI single.
 
The Knights' chance for a comeback was thwarted in the fifth when Baruch scored three times on four hits. Flint started off the offensive output for the Bearcats as she doubled to left field to knock in Ruiz. The lead extended to 9-2 on a two-RBI Bowman single to left center that scored Flint and Donde. Baruch claimed an eight-run cushion in the top of the sixth on an infield dropped fly that allowed Vlahopoulos to come across.
 
NJCU will attempt to shake off the loss on Saturday, March 23 as they host Stevens Institute of Technology in a non-conference doubleheader at 1 p.m.