LITTLE RIVER, SC (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Medaille College scored five unearned runs in game one before the College of Saint Elizabeth scored nine unearned in game two including seven in an error-filled second inning as the New Jersey City University softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader on March 10 on the final day of its spring trip at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex.
 
NJCU (3-5) and Medaille (6-2) each had 10 hits in game one but the Mavericks capitalized on three Gothic Knight errors in winning the opener, 6-3.
 
In game two, NJCU committed four errors in the second inning and dropped a 12-4 decision to intrastate foe College of Saint Elizabeth (3-4). The Knights led 2-0 before the Screaming Eagles scored 10 times between the second and third innings.
 
Junior first baseman Brittany Paulikas (Fords, NJ/John F. Kennedy Memorial) came into the day with six hits in her last six at bats and extended her on base streak to 10 consecutive plate appearances before it was snapped in game two. She had four hits in the two games.
 
Game 1: Medaille College 5, New Jersey City University 1
After losing to the Mavericks 9-0 on day one of the trip, NJCU outplayed Medaille for a majority of its rematch. But three errors led to five of the six runs as Medaille scored twice in the second to take the lead before adding three crucial insurance runs in the third.
 
The loss spoiled yet another outstanding effort for Paulikas, who batted 3-for-3 with an RBI. Freshman catcher Gabriella Contey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) was 2-for-4 and freshman shortstop Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) went 2-for-4 with a double and RBI.
 
Shortstop Morgan Ziemba led Medaille with three hits (3-4), one RBI and one run while Sharon Trigilio had a three-run inside-the-park home run and scored twice. Mercedes Sulzbach, who hit an inside-the-parker in the first meeting between the schools was 2-for-4.
 
Junior center fielder Jazz Randall (Parsippany, NJ/West Orange) walked to lead off the first, advanced to second on a Contey single and scored on a Gavin hit to center. Medaille tied in the bottom of the inning when Ziemba doubled with two outs and scored on a pair of singles. It was the only earned run for Medaille.
 
After a one-out error extended the second inning, RBI singles by Sulzbach and Ziemba made it a 3-1 margin. A second inning leadoff error would come back to burn the Knights when Trigilio homered over the drawn in outfield with two outs and never stopped running after slapping the ball inside the left field fence. NJCU got two runs back in the fourth on an RBI single by Randall and a bases loaded walk by Paulikas but couldn't threaten in the final innings.,
 
Senior right-hander Amanda Mesi was the winner in relief, defeating NJCU for the second time. She allowed two hits in 3.1 shutout innings (one strikeout, one walk) to win for the fourth time (4-2). Freshman right-hander Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) was the hard-luck loser. In 3.0 innings, she allowed one earned run and seven hits (one strikeout, one walk).
 
Sophomore righty Melissa Mendoza (Union City, NJ/Union City) threw three shutout innings in relief, giving up three hits with one K.
 
Game 2: College of Saint Elizabeth 12, New Jersey City University 4 (5 innings)
In the first meeting between the schools in 11 years, NJCU scored twice in the first before Saint Elizabeth took advantage of five Gothic Knight errors and prevailed via the eight-run rule.
 
CSE scored 12 times off 10 hits while the Knights were limited to five hits and just three after the opening inning. Half of the Eagles hits went for extra bases, including four triples.
 
Right fielder Marielis Alicea, the No. 9 hitter, drove in three runs and scored twice, batting 2-for-2 and leadoff hitter Heather Passaro had two RBIs and two runs. Kayla Gonzalez and Sharolin Sanders each had two hits and a run scored. Catcher Alyssabel Garcia scored twice. Paulikas drove in two runs and tallied her third double. Gavin walked twice and scored twice.
 
Mendoza lost for NJCU (0-1) despite not allowing an earned run against three hits in 1.2 innings. Allie Jenkins (2-1) won for CSE despite allowing four runs and walking four. The Eagles scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to seal the eight-run winning differential.
 
NJCU jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Paulikas had a sacrifice fly and freshman Victoria Moyeno (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic)'s first career hit knocked in a second run.
 
After the first error extended the second inning, Alicea tied it with a two-run triple before Passaro tripled to give CSE the lead for good. Three more errors and a third triple plated four more runs as the Eagles led 7-2 through two innings before. A bases loaded hit by pitch by Passaro was one of three runs in the third. In the fifth, an RBI triple by Gonzalez and Alicea's RBI single clinched the win.
 
#KnightNotes:

• All-Time Series with Medaille: Medaille leads all-time series, 2-0, with both meetings this week.
• All-Time Series with Saint Elizabeth: 33rd meeting. NJCU leads all-time series, 24-9. First meeting since April 29, 2005 in Jersey City, NJ.

 
What's Next?:
NJCU heads back to New Jersey on March 11 and is back on the field on Tuesday, March 15 when it faces Yeshiva University at 7 p.m. in a non-conference doubleheader at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY. NJCU leads the all-time series, 2-0, sweeping a doubleheader in Jersey City on April 30, 2015, 8-7 (8 innings) and 19-4 (5 innings).