JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Nationally No. 15 ranked Rowan University put on an impressive display of power with 11 home runs in the doubleheader, including eight in game one as the Profs swept a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader from New Jersey City University, 30-2 and 13-3, both in five innings, on April 23 at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
 
Rowan won for the 11th time in 12 games and the fourth in a row to improve to 29-7 overall and 12-2 in the NJAC.  The Profs need one more win to claim the league's regular season championship. NJCU dropped to 11-23 (lost 18).
 
The eight homers in game one by Rowan were the second most hit in a game in NCAA Division III history while the Profs' 35 hits were the fourth most on record. Rowan also hit three homers in the second inning of the opening game.
 
Sophomore center fielder/left fielder Juliana Squeo (Carlstadt, N.J./Becton Regional) belted her first career homer in the fifth inning of game one as the two squads combined for nine round trippers in the game.
 
Rowan freshman second baseman Carly Anderson (Nutley, N.J/Nutley) had a notable day, batting a combined 7-for-8, with eight RBIs, six runs, three homers, one walk. Sophomore left fielder Mia Baldassari (Lake Hopatcong, N.J./Morris Knolls) tallied eight RBIs in the two games, and scored three times while going 4-for-8.
 
Game 1: #15 Rowan University 30, New Jersey City University 2 (5 Innings)
Rowan's historic 30-run, 35-hit, eight-homer effort saw the visitors score in every inning, including 24 in the first three. Rowan scored seven in the first, 10 in the second, seven in the third and padded a 25-0 lead with five runs in the fifth. The Profs saw 22 players see action—20 offensively—and 17 had at least one hit.  
 
Anderson homered twice, batting 5-for-5 with seven RBIs, four runs and a walk and Baldassari, last year's NJAC Rookie of the Year, had five RBIs, going 2-for-4 with two runs and her first homer. Sophomore third baseman Nicole Paiotti (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) homered twice—her fifth and sixth of the season—and was 2-for-3 with five RBIs.  
 
Also hitting homers for Rowan were junior first baseman Damariz Mercado (Bloomfield, N.J./Bloomfield) who was 2-for-3 with two runs; the homer was her second of the year. Off the bench, freshman MacKenzie Juodaitis (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) and freshman catcher Angela Antonini (Gibbstown, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) each hit their first career four-baggers.
 
Also for Rowan, freshman center fielder Gianna Genello (West Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) was 3-for-3 with two runs and senior catcher Alyssa Sims (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) was 3-for-3 with three runs. Last week's National Player of the Week, junior designated player Ashley DeYoung (Oakland, N.J./Indian Hills) scored twice, batting 3-for-4. Sophomore right fielder Morgan Smith (Millsboro, Del./Sussex Central) doubled, going 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Junior reserve left fielder Sammy Vradenburg (Park Ridge, N.J./Park Ridge) scored three times and was 2-for-2.
 
Freshman reserve third baseman Cassandra Gerard (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Valley) had two RBIs (2-for-3). Senior shortstop. Shilah Snead (Malaga, N.J./Delsea Regional) scored twice.
 
Rowan hit two homers in the first inning when it had seven hits before the three-home run effort in the nine-hit second inning. It again had two homers with seven hits in the third before adding one more on eight hits in the fifth; the Profs were homerless in the fourth.
 
Lost in the offensive performance was the effort by senior right-handed pitcher Beth Ann Hyland (East Brunswick, N.J./East Brunswick), who struck out the first eight batters of the game and was perfect in her 3.0 innings of work to improve to 17-3 overall before leaving. She fanned the side on nine pitches in the second inning.
 
Squeo's two-run homer in the fifth after a leadoff error broke up the shutout after junior left/right fielder Jazz Randall (Parsippany, N.J./West Orange) had an earlier hit. Senior righty Jayla Lee Vega (Hoboken, N.J./Hoboken) threw the first 2.1 innings and suffered the loss (6-10).
 
Game 2: #15 Rowan University 13, New Jersey City University 3 (5 Innings)

Rowan led 10-0 after three and a half innings before NJCU showed some life, scoring three times in the fourth. The Profs answered with three in the fifth to have enough to end the game in five innings. The Profs had a 14-5 margin in hits. Rowan hit three more home runs in the win.
 
Snead, the two-time NJAC Player of the Year, homered for the seventh time this season and drove in four runs, scoring three others, while batting 4-for-4. DeYoung hammered her 11th homer of the season and had three RBIs while Anderson ripped her third homer of the day and sixth of the season, going 2-for-3 with two runs. Genello scored three times (3-for-3, one RBI) and Baldassari collected three RBIs (2-for-4, one run). Sims scored twice.
 
Freshman right-hander Christina Mezey (Jersey City, N.J./Saint Dominic Academy) helped her own cause, batting 2-for-2 with one run and one RBI and junior shortstop Brianna Rosario (Roselle, N.J./Abraham Clark) had a two-RBI double. Mezey suffered the loss in the circle (5-12).
 
Rowan used three pitchers with senior righty Allison Nolan (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) claiming the three-inning decision (3-0). She struck out four and allowed one hit (no walks). Juodaitis, the third pitcher, struck out one in an inning of relief.
 
Rowan led 1-0 after one inning before Anderson homered to lead off the second. Baldassari had a two-run double as part of the six-hit attack and DeYoung added a two-run homer. Snead launched a three-run homer in the fourth.
 
Rowan's second pitcher, sophomore righty Rachel Gagliardo (Plainsboro, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro South), had given up two hits all season in 7.2 innings, and had a .083 opposing batting average coming in. But NJCU got to her in the fourth as she gave up two hits in the first three NJCU plate appearances and four overall. Singles by junior first baseman Brittany Paulikas (Fords, N.J./John F. Kennedy Memorial) and Vega and a Mezey RBI single got NJCU on the board before Rosario hit a two-run double over the shallow playing left fielder for a 10-3 deficit. Rowan countered with three runs and five hits in the fifth.
 
#KnightNotes:

• All-Time Series with Rowan: Rowan leads, 36-0.
• Rankings: Rowan is No. 2 in the NCAA Division III East Region and No. 15 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25.
• Rowan, which came into the day with 33 homers, broke its 2013 single-season team record of 38 and now has 44. The eight homers were also a Rowan record; the previous mark was four against NJCU in 2010.
• The most homers in a game are nine by SUNY Geneseo vs. Medaille on April 1, 1999. The eight homers matched second most in a game held by Monmouth (IL) vs. Knox (April 17, 2014) and Wis.-Oshkosh vs. Wis.-Superior (April 16, 2008).
• The 35 hits by Rowan are fourth most on record in a single game. The record is 46 in 1991 by New England College. Mount Saint Mary (NY) had 38 in a game in 2013 and Norwich had 37 in 2011.
• The three homers by Rowan in the second inning of game one marked the 12th time on record in Division III history a team has hit three in one frame. Two other teams have hit a record four (Texas Tyler in 2010 and SUNY Cortland in 2013).

 
What's Next?:
On Senior Day on Tuesday, April 26 (3 p.m.) NJCU will play its final home doubleheader of the season against Rutgers University-Newark. NJCU will honor center fielder/shortstop Thalia Garcia (Ridgefield, N.J./North Bergen), three-sport athlete and utility player Deseree Johnson (Red Bank, N.J./Monmouth Regional) and Vega.