JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | One game was as straight-forward a college softball game as you'll ever find—three total runs, six combined hits. The nightcap was a polar opposite—with 26 runs and 27 hits, including 12 runs in the seventh inning with daylight quickly dwindling at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. In the end  New Jersey City University gave two-time defending CUNYAC champion College of Staten Island all it could handle before ultimately falling, 3-0 and 15-11, in a non-conference doubleheader on April 28.
 
Staten Island (25-10), seeking its third consecutive CUNYAC title and NCAA Tournament berth in the coming days, won for the fourth and fifth straight meetings in the 'Bayonne Bridge Series' while NJCU (3-33) committed four errors in each game, yet managed to keep it close. The second contest lasted 2:14 and did not end until 8:05 p.m. in one of the latest games ever played at NJCU's non-lighted home facility.

GAME 1: Staten Island 3, NJCU 0
Staten Island scored unearned runs in the first and second innings before adding a run in the fifth and freshman right-handed pitcher Nicolette Trapani (Brooklyn, NY), the winning pitcher in each game (12-4), tossed a two-hit gem as CSI won the opener, 3-0.
 
Trapani struck out eight and walked two over 100 pitches, allowing just two hits in a full 7.0 shutout innings. She allowed just one hit after the first inning.
 
Sophomore third baseman/right-handed pitcher Brittany Paulikas (Fords, N.J./JFK-Iselin) pitched well but took the loss for NJCU (2-16). In 7.0 innings, she allowed one earned run while scattering four singles. She struck out two and walked two over 78 pitches. Paulikas singled in the first inning for NJCU before freshman left/right fielder Juliana Squeo (Carlstadt, NJ/Becton Regional) had a long single in the seventh.
 
CSI got the only run it needed in the first inning when sophomore right fielder Kristy Colangelo (Staten Island, NY) reached on a leadoff error, advanced on a passed ball and scored on the second error of the inning.

In the second inning, senior left fielder Danielle Locke (Staten Island, NY) reached on a leadoff error before later scoring on a two-out single to center by sophomore catcher Elizabeth Travieso (Brooklyn, NY). With two outs in the fifth, senior center fielder Brittany Smith (Staten Island, NY) walked and stole second before crossing with the final run on a single by junior third baseman Christina Tufano (Staten Island, NY).

GAME 2: Staten Island 15, NJCU 11
Staten Island scored in every inning but the sixth and led 7-0 entering the bottom of the fourth before NJCU plated four runs to make it a three-run contest. CSI scored three more times in the fifth to up the lead to 10-4 and tacked on five more in the top of the seventh to make it a 15-4 differential that seemed insurmountable.
 
NJCU did not quit, scoring seven unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh, aided by four timely hits and two CSI errors before running out of time in its comeback bid, suffering a four-run loss.
 
CSI outhit NJCU, 16-11 but the Knights got solid efforts from multiple players. Junior shortstop Thalia Garcia (Ridgefield, NJ/North Bergen) was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, a double and run scored and sophomore catcher/outfielder Jazz Randall (Parsippany, NJ/West Orange) drove in two runs, batting 2-for-3 with a run scored.
 
Freshman catcher Cristina Otero (Jersey City, NJ/North Bergen) had a two-run double (1-for-4, one run). Junior first baseman Faith Ely (Vienna, NJ/Hackettstown) also was 2-for-4 while Squeo, senior center fielder Crystal Torres (North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen) and sophomore third baseman Marielis Vazquez (Elizabeth, NJ/Benedictine Academy) each scored twice.
 
Staten Island hit three home runs in the win as Colangelo, Tufano and junior first baseman Chyanne Gilliam (Staten Island, NY) each touched four bases. Tufano was 2-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs while Colangelo scored four times, batting 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Gilliam ended 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run.
 
Also for CSI, junior shortstop Maxine Jasko (Staten Island, NY) was 3-for-5 with two runs and freshman designated player Desire Vazquez (Brooklyn, NY) drove in two. Locke had a pair of hits.
 

Senior left-handed pitcher Ashley Latushko (Kearny, N.J./Kearny) only allowed three earned runs (eight hits) in 3.1 innings but was charged with the loss (1-17). Paulikas threw the final 3.2 innings.
 
Trapani started the game and re-entered in the seventh after sophomore righty Alexandra Conanan (Staten Island, NY) ran into four runs of trouble in her only inning. Trapani got the win in 6.0 innings but not before allowing seven unearned runs and seven hits (three strikeouts, two walks).
 
CSI struck for two in the first on RBI singles by Tufano and Locke before adding single unearned runs in the second and third. Three singles and two errors in the fourth helped CSI push the margin to 7-0.
 
NJCU drew closer in the bottom of the inning as it scored four times on four hits before leaving the bases full. Otero, who had just one double and two RBIs in her career prior to the inning, had a bases-loaded double to left to get NJCU on the board before Garcia doubled home a run and Paulikas singled for the third and fourth runs.
 
Colangelo hit a one-out, two-run homer in the fifth before Smith doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tufano for a 10-4 margin. CSI scored five more on six hits in the seventh—back-to-back homers by Tufano (two-run shot) and Gilliam and a two-run single by Vazquez for a 15-4 advantage.
 
With one out and no one on in the bottom of the seventh, CSI committed consecutive errors which helped spark an NJCU comeback. With the bases loaded after a single by Squeo, Randall came through with a long, two-run single while narrowly missing a grand slam when the fly ball caromed off the fence. Freshman designated player Melissa Veloz (West New York, NJ/Memorial) singled home a run to make it 15-7. Randall darted home from third on a wild pitch, beating a tag at the plate with an aggressive, head-first slide. Torres walked and Garcia later added an RBI single before she and Torres scored on back-to-back passed balls. Ely, the 10th batter of the inning, hit a long fly ball to end the game.
 
OF NOTE:

• Staten Island leads the 'Bayonne Bridge Series,' 27-17.

WHAT'S NEXT:
NJCU will conclude the 2015 season when it hosts Yeshiva University (5-13) on Thursday, April 30 at 4 p.m. in the makeup of a thrice postponed non-conference doubleheader. It will be the first meeting between NJCU and the third-year Maccabees program.