BROOKLYN, NY (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The New Jersey City University softball team scored 10 runs in the first inning of game one and scored multiple runs in every inning of game two including eight in the fifth, as the Gothic Knights scored early and often while sweeping a non-conference doubleheader from Brooklyn College, 13-1 in five innings and 18-0, also in five innings, on March 17 at the Brooklyn Softball Field.
 
NJCU won its fourth straight games and with a 7-5 ledger, exceeded its win total from each of the past two seasons barely one-quarter of the way through the 2016 campaign. Brooklyn is 0-2.
 
Sophomore Cristina Otero (Jersey City, NJ/North Bergen) had the best offensive evening, batting a combined 4-for-7 with five RBIs and three runs.

Freshman right-hander Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) was superb in game two. She struck out eight, walked none and threw four innings of one-hit softball while contributing three RBIs at the plate.

Game 1: New Jersey City University 13, Brooklyn College 1 (5 innings)
The game was over before it had really even started. NJCU scored 10 times in the top of the first as 13 batters stepped to the plate and NJCU added three more in the second before cruising to the 12-run win. All nine players in the lineup scored at least one run and eight tallied an RBI.
 
Sophomore Melissa Mendoza (Union City, NJ/Union City), the game one right fielder, had three RBIs, two walks and two runs and Otero, the opening game designated player batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run. Freshman catcher Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) batted 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.
 
Senior right-handed pitcher Jayla Lee Vega (Hoboken, NJ/Hoboken) improved to 4-1 on the season. In 5.0 innings she struck out seven against three walks and allowed just one run while scattering three singles. At the plate, she walked twice and scored twice.
 
Also for NJCU, freshman third baseman Gabriella Contey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) and sophomore left fielder Juliana Squeo (Carlstadt, NJ/Becton Regional) each scored twice with a hit and RBI. Freshman second baseman Victoria Moyeno (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic) drew a pair of walks.
 
NJCU scored 10 times in the first but only needed three hits to do so as it waited out seven walks in the inning, including four with the bases loaded to push across runs. Moyeno, Squeo, Mendoza and senior center fielder Thalia Garcia (Ridgefield, NJ/North Bergen) each drew walks with the bags full. Otero and Contey each had RBI singles in the inning and junior first baseman Brittany Paulikas (Fords, NJ/John F. Kennedy Memorial), the New Jersey Athletic Conference Player of the Week, added a sacrifice fly.
 
A two-run single by Mendoza in the second made it 12-0 before a sacrifice fly by Otero made it 13-0. With the outcome long decided, the Knights had seven runner left early calls in the third, fourth and fifth frames.  
 
Krystal Howard was the loser for Brooklyn (0-1). She walked 10 batters without a strikeout and 12 of the 13 NJCU runs were earned. BC scored its lone run in the fourth inning when it had two of its three hits.

 

Game 2: New Jersey City University 18, Brooklyn College 0 (5 innings)
NJCU pounded out 14 hits as four players notched three RBIs apiece and Mezey was masterful in the circle. In 4.0 innings she allowed one hit—a two-out single in the third. She struck out eight and walked none while facing just one batter over the minimum (13). Mendoza pitched the fifth inning with a strikeout and walk.
 
NJCU scored twice in the first and second, four in the third and two in the fourth for a 10-0 margin before notching eight runs on seven hits in the fifth when 13 came to the plate. Every starter had a hit and scored a run for NJCU.
 
Otero, the second baseman in game two, was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, two runs and a walk. Moyeno, the right fielder in game two, was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs. Contey drove in three runs and batted 2-for-4 while Mezey helped her cause with three RBIs in a 2-for-3 showing. Paulikas was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Junior shortstop Brianna Rosario (Roselle, NJ/Abraham Clark) had two RBIs, two runs and two walks.
 
Gavin scored twice and notched her third triple of the season. Garcia scored three times and Squeo walked twice.
 
In the first Otero singled before scoring on a three-base error and Moyeno had an RBI single. Contey added a two-run single in the second. NJCU scored four times in the third with Rosario's two-run single the most significant. Moyeno and Mezey pushed across runs in the fourth; Mezey doubled.
 
In the fifth, Paulikas ripped a two-run hard hit ball to third with the bases loaded. Moyeno followed with an RBI double and Mezey tallied a two-run single. Another two-run single by Otero and an RBI hit by Contey punctuated the inning.
 
#KnightNotes:

• All-Time Series with Brooklyn: NJCU leads, 11-6.
• NJCU is 7-5 after 12 games for the first time since opening the 2010 season at 8-4.

 
What's Next?:
NJCU is off the next week until it plays its home opener on Thursday, March 24 at 3 p.m. against Lehman College at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. It will be the first meeting since NJCU swept a doubleheader in Jersey City on April 2, 2009 (11-0 and 17-0). NJCU leads the all-time series, 18-2.