FORT MYERS, Fla. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Trailing 4-0, the New Jersey City University softball team capitalized on four Geneva College errors in the top of the sixth inning with a five-run rally, highlighted by a go-ahead RBI double by sophomore first baseman Marielis Vazquez (Elizabeth, NJ/Benedictine Academy), as the Gothic Knights claimed their first win of the season edging the Golden Tornadoes, 5-4, on March 9 in game four of the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic for the Gothic Knights.
 
The win for NJCU (1-3) gives first-year head coach Jaci Timko her first collegiate coaching victory. Geneva, members of the President's Athletic Conference (PAC), saw its record evened at 1-1.
 
Sophomore right-hander Brittany Paulikas (Fords, NJ/JFK-Iselin) overcame late drama in the bottom of the seventh after the Tornadoes worked out a walk and hit by pitch with one out which pushed the tying run into scoring position. But Paulikas responded, striking out second baseman Laura Innocenzi looking and third baseman Madison Schantz swinging to end the game.
 
Each team committed four errors in the game and Geneva outhit the Knights, 9-6. Center fielder Clara Sevy was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored as she notched a pair of doubles. Catcher Hannah Logan was 2-for-3 and first baseman Laura Beck went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI.
 
Paulikas allowed just one earned run in the win (1-1), striking out four versus two walks and nine hits in the 7.0 inning showing. Andrea Hinds started for Geneva, allowing four unearned runs and three hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. Samantha Johnson (0-1) was responsible for the eventual winning run and took the loss (0-1), allowing an unearned run and three hits in 1.2 relief innings.
 
Geneva staked itself to a 4-0 lead through two innings. After an RBI single by Hinds in the first inning got the Tornadoes on the board, Sevy had a two-out, two-run double to left center in the second inning to make it 3-0 and Beck followed with an RBI double for a 4-0 advantage.
 
After leaving two runners on in the third, NJCU went in order in the fourth and fifth innings. But the Gothic Knight luck changed in the sixth. Junior right fielder Thalia Garcia (Ridgefield, NJ/North Bergen) reached second on a leadoff error, stole third and scored when senior center fielder Crystal Torres (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) reached on another error. Rookie shortstop Alize Sarmiento (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) walked and she and Torres executed a double steal. Sophomore catcher Jazz Randall (Parsippany, NJ/West Orange) lofted a sacrifice fly to score Torres and an RBI single by Paulikas cut the deficit to 4-3.
 
Freshman Alyssia Pacheco (Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge) pinch ran for Paulikas and after a fly ball resulted in the second out, she advanced to third on a throwing error before scoring the tying run when freshman Kelly Wilkinson (Parlin, NJ/Kearny) reached on the fourth error of the inning. Vazquez stepped up and produced just her second career hit and first extra-base hit as her first collegiate RBI on a double to left center, plated Wilkinson for a 5-4 differential. NJCU would leave three runners on base as 11 players batted in the frame, leading up to the eventful seventh.
 
OF NOTE:

• The win was NJCU's first since a 3-0 New Jersey Athletic Conference victory over Rutgers-Newark on April 12, 2014. It snapped a 14-game losing streak over two seasons.

WHAT'S NEXT:
On day three of the trip in Cape Coral, Fla., the Knights face Wilmington College (1-3) of the Ohio Athletic Conference at 9 a.m. before meeting Bridgewater State University at 1 p.m. Bridgewater State (4-2) went 32-14 last year, captured the MASCAC championships and advanced to the NCAA Super Regional (Sweet 16).