New Jersey City University Athletics

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 BOX SCORE: Game 1 | Game 2
GAME PROGRAM/NOTES: Inside-the-Athlete, ASHLEY O'BEIRNE

JERSEY CITY, NJ (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Montclair State University has been the unanimous No. 1 softball team in Division III the entire regular season and in a doubleheader sweep of New Jersey City University on April 16 demonstrated why.
 
MSU, the only undefeated team in Division I, II or III, improved to 28-0 overall and 12-0 in the conference, winning its 28th consecutive games by sweeping the Gothic Knights (12-19, 1-11 NJAC), 7-0 and 7-2, in a New Jersey Athletic Conference twinbill at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
 
Montclair hit a combined five homeruns in the doubleheader and received an incredible performance from its best player as two-time NJAC Pitcher of the Year and junior right-hander Alex Hill (Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany Hills), a five-time NJAC Pitcher of the Week this season,  struck out 14 batters in the opening game.
 
Junior catcher Alisha Cumberton (Toms River, NJ/Toms River East) was a combined 3-for-5 with four runs and three RBIs in the two games.
 
In defeat, senior righty ASHLEY O'BEIRNE (Wood-Ridge, NJ/Immaculate Conception) matched NJCU's career school record by starting the 89th and 90th games of her career—eclipsing current assistant coach Andrea Delucrezia (89 starts, 2006-09) and matching Hall-of-Famer Karen Masters with 90 (1998-01).
  Alex Hill is perhaps the best player in Division III, and the Montclair State star was her typical brilliant self as 14 of the 21 outs MSU recorded in the game were via strikeout. She improved to 22-0, fanning 14 versus one rare walk and hitting one batter while scattering two singles over 97 pitches while throwing her 12^th shutout of the season.
 
Hill, who tied the school record for strikeouts earlier this season with 16 against Hunter College (March 26), struck out 10 or more batters in a game for the 14^th time in 19 starts and in a two-hit shutout of NJCU, allowed two hits or less for the 12^th time this season.
 
En route to 14 strikeouts, she fanned three batters in the first inning, struck out the side in the second, and six in a row before hitting a batter in the third. All three outs recorded in the third inning were strikeouts. Her 10th strikeout came in the fourth. Hill fanned two in the fifth for a dozen strikeouts and her 13th batter in the sixth before adding the final whiff in the 14th.
 
When sophomore left fielder TAYLOR SETAR (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) drew a leadoff walk in the sixth inning, Hill had a streak of 45 1/3 innings without issuing a walk snapped. Senior third baseman REBECCA SATZ (Morris Plains, NJ/Morristown) and junior shortstop GABRIELLE RIVERA (Teaneck, NJ/Saint Joseph of the Palisades) had NJCU's two hits.
 
For MSU, Cumberton was 2-for-2 with three RBIs, three runs and two walks and senior center fielder Jamie Paulino (Linden, NJ/Linden) was 3-for-3 with one run and one RBI. Cumberton, Paulino and junior second baseman Katie Muglia (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) each hit homers for Montclair and Hill walked twice at the plate.
 
In the top of the first, Montclair loaded the bases and had a 3-2 count. MSU's Paulino tried to advance to home on a near passed ball. But junior catcher MARISSA BARISO (Hewitt, NJ/West Milford) recovered in time, chased the runner back to third, where Satz completed the rundown to end the threat. MSU had two runners on in the second inning when a wind-blown fly ball fell between the second baseman and right fielder, but junior second baseman MAXINE KAMINSKI (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) got her team out of trouble when she tagged the next runner on a ground ball to produce a double play.
 
But with one out in the third, MSU would jump ahead 1-0 when Paulino lifted a 3-2 pitch over the fence in straight-away center field for her second homerun of the season.
 
MSU would add three more runs in what became a four-run third inning. Junior third baseman Dana Amato (Hillsdale, NJ/Pascack Valley) walked, sophomore first baseman Tara Petrucelli (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) singled, and Cumberton doubled over the drawn-in head of the Gothic Knight right fielder for two runs and a 3-0 advantage. An RBI single to left center by sophomore designated player Melany Zeller (Bloomfield, NJ/Bloomfield) knocked in Cumberton with the fourth run of the inning.
 
In the top of the fourth, Muglia lined her first homer of the season over the left-center fence for a 5-0 lead. Cumberton aired out a 2-2 pitch in the top of the fifth that cleared the fence to the right of straight-away center for a 6-0 cushion and her first homer of the year. NJCU turned its second double play of the game to end the sixth inning before Hill added an RBI single in the top of the seventh for the final 7-0 differential.
 
O'Beirne allowed seven runs and 11 hits on 134 pitches, walking six (one hit batter) with one strikeout.
  In the nightcap, junior righty Alison Cullen (Branchburg, NJ/Immaculata) improved to 6-0, throwing a six-inning one-hit shutout, with one strikeout and one walk over 69 pitches.
 
Petrucelli was 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI and Amato was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and one run as each player homered for the Red Hawks.
 
Bariso was 2-for-3 with one run scored for the Knights and rookie designated player STEPHANIE MURPHY (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) was 1-for-2 with a two-RBI single in the seventh inning to break-up the shutout bid.
 
MSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Amato hit a two-run homer over the right-center fence—her fourth homer of the season.
 
In the bottom of the third, NJCU had a leadoff walk and advanced a runner to third for the first time in the doubleheader but failed to plate the run.
 
MSU added four runs without the benefit of a hit in the top of the fourth to claim a 6-0 cushion. Its third run came across when a sacrifice bunt was dropped at first base and Cumberton, who walked, scored from second base. Two more walks later, including one with the bases full pushed in the fourth run and Paulino followed with a sacrifice fly for a 5-0 score. An error on a rundown play at first allowed Cullen to score the sixth run.
 
Bariso broke up Cullen's no-hit bid with a one-out single to left center in the bottom of the fourth inning. Petrucelli hit her third homer of the season to center in the top of the fifth for a 7-0 advantage.
 
In the bottom of the seventh inning, MSU inserted reserve sophomore righty Jennifer Skinner (Long Valley, NJ/West Morris Central). Bariso led off with a first-pitch double, Rivera reached on an error and both runners scored when Murphy had a two-run single to right field to snap a 20-inning scoreless streak.
 
O'Beirne suffered the loss, falling to 12-18. In seven innings, she allowed only four earned runs (seven total) and five hits, with five walks and three strikeouts over 127 pitches.
 
NJCU will close its 19-game home schedule on Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m. when it hosts #23 ranked The College of New Jersey in an NJAC doubleheader in Jersey City. On Senior Day 2013, NJCU will honor Satz, a two-time First-Team All-NJAC performer, and O'Beirne.