LITTLE RIVER, SC (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Junior first baseman Brittany Paulikas (Fords, NJ/John F. Kennedy Memorial) was mired in a slump three games into the season. So first year head coach Veronica Grant sat her bat down for one game on Monday. That decision paid immediate dividends. Paulikas had a combined six hits, drove in five runs and crushed a three-run homer in the nightcap as NJCU won twice on March 9, knocking off Anna Maria College, 8-2 and blanking Wentworth Institute of Technology, 5-0, on day three of its spring trip at the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic at the North Myrtle Beach Sports Complex.

Paulikas, who started the year batting 0-for-10, turned that around with six consecutive hits as NJCU evened its spring trip ledger at 3-3.
 
The second year Gothic Knight batted 3-for-4 with two RBIs, two runs scored and a double in the win over Anna Maria (1-6), then was a triple shy of the cycle in the second game when she batted 3-for-3 with three RBIs, two runs, another double, and a mammoth homer over the 225-foot sign in straightaway center to punctuate a four-run fifth inning against Wentworth (1-2). In all, Paulikas batted 6-for-7 with three extra base hits, the five RBIs and two runs scored.
 
Game 1: New Jersey City University 8, Anna Maria College 2
In the opener, NJCU scored twice in the top of the first and added five insurance runs in the fifth to break open the game before downing the Amcats, 8-2. After tallying 17 hits in the first four games of the season, the Knights had a 16-5 margin in hits in the win.
 
Paulikas was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs while freshman catcher Gabriella Contey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) and senior right-handed pitcher/third baseman Jayla Lee Vega (Hoboken, NJ/Hoboken) each batted 3-for-4 with an RBI.
 
Vega also won for the second time (2-1), tossing a two-hitter over 5.0 innings. She allowed one unearned run and struck out four against one walk. Freshman righty Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy), who started the game at third base, pitched the final two innings, allowing one unearned run and three hits with a strikeout and walk.
 
Also for NJCU, freshman Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) had a big effort, going 2-for-4 with two runs. Mezey had two RBIs and sophomore left fielder Melissa Mendoza (Union City, NJ/Union City) batted 2-for-4 with an RBI. Junior Jazz Randall (Parsippany, NJ/West Orange) made her second career start in center field, scored twice and had three athletic putouts in center.
 
Both of the Amcats runs were unearned and no players had multiple hits. Junior righty Alexis Romano (Lowell, Mass.) took the loss, allowing seven runs and 12 hits in 4.1 innings before freshman righty Ally Hamelin (Greenfield, Mass,) threw the final 2.2 innings, allowing a run and four hits.
 
NJCU got on the board in the first, scoring twice on four hits. Randall led off with a single, stole second and scored on a double to left center by Contey, before she was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Gavin singled with one out, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Vega for a 2-0 edge.
 
Vega breezed through the lineup in the first four innings before NJCU tacked on five runs in the fifth. With one out, Randall walked, Contey singled and Gavin had an RBI single. Paulikas deposited the first pitch she saw for a two-run double to left center and after another single by Vega, Mezey slipped a two-run single through the left side to expand the lead to 7-0.
 
AMC got a run back in the bottom of the inning after a pair of errors. After a one-out double in the sixth, a throwing error led to a second Amcats run. Mendoza would add an RBI single in the seventh for the final run.

 

Game 2: New Jersey City University 5, Wentworth Institute of Technology 0
NJCU notched its second shutout in three games behind Paulikas' blast and a strong complete-game effort by Mezey as NJCU made the most of its six hits and limited the Leopards to five. Both teams played a clean defensive game.
 
Mezey won her first game as NJCU's new ace (1-2), striking out five against two walks while keeping the Leopards off balance most of the outing.
 
Paulikas was the lone NJCU player with multiple hits or RBIs, batting 3-for-3 with the three run homer and two runs scored. Gavin and Mezey each knocked in a run. Sophomore shortstop Megan Berryman (Middleboro, Mass.) had two hits for Wentworth.
 
NJCU got the only run it would need in the top of the second when Paulikas led off with a double and scored when Mezey singled through the left side.
 
The Knights put the game away with four two-out runs in the fifth. Randall walked, Contey had a bunt single and Randall scored when Gavin singled off the glove of a diving Berryman. Down in the count two strikes, Paulikas worked the count full, then crushed the 3-2 pitch straightaway over the 225-foot mark in center that cleared the fence with room to spare. Wentworth did not have more than one baserunner in any of the following innings.
 
Freshman left-hander Hayley Rutkey (Burnt Hills, NY) took the loss, allowing three runs and four hits in 4.2 innings. She struck out three and walked two. Freshman righty Erica Norquist (Rutland, Mass.) threw the final 2.1 innings, allowing two runs and two hits.
 
#KnightNotes:

• All-Time Series with Anna Maria: NJCU leads all-time series, 2-0. The last meeting was a 10-2 win for NJCU in Fort Myers, Fla. on March 10, 2010.
• All-Time Series with Wentworth: First-ever meeting.

 
What's Next?:
NJCU will conclude its eight-game spring trip on Thursday, March 10 when it faces Medaille College for the second time on the trip and New Jersey foe College of St. Elizabeth. Medaille edged NJCU, 9-0, in seven innings, on March 7. Meanwhile, it will be the first meeting between NJCU and St. Elizabeth in 11 years since a sweep of CSE in Jersey City, NJ on April 29, 2005. It will be the 33rd meeting in a series that began in 1981 and that NJCU leads, 24-8.