NAPLES, Fla. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Tom Brady and the New England Patriots made unlikely comebacks fashionable and on March 8, the New Jersey City University softball team had their own never-quit moment. Down 7-0 to Elms College with six outs to play and 7-4 with two outs in the final at bat, the Gothic Knights powered back with four runs in the top of the sixth before completing the comeback with five runs in the seventh to chalk up an unlikely 9-7 win to highlight day three of the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic at North Collier Regional Park. NJCU lost game one in eight innings under the international tiebreaker, falling to Alverno College, 3-2.
 
The Gothic Knights are 4-2 with two games remaining on their spring trip. Freshman center fielder Alanis Concepcion (Nutley, N.J./Nutley) and freshman shortstop Naomi Olacio (Bayonne, N.J./Hoboken) were each instrumental in the comebacks, homering back-to-back in the sixth before doubling and tripling as part of the seventh-inning exclamation mark.
 
Junior left fielder Juliana Squeo (Carlstadt, N.J./Becton Regional) was a combined 5-for-8 in the two games while senior first baseman/right-handed pitcher Brittany Paulikas (Ford, N.J./John F. Kennedy Memorial) produced three hits and three RBIs on the day.
 
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Christina Mezey (Jersey City, N.J./Saint Dominic Academy) earned her first career save in game one after losing for the first time this year in the most heartbreaking of manners in the opener.
 
Game 1: Alverno 3, NJCU 2
NJCU scored twice in the top of the first on a two-run single by Paulikas but couldn't break through again. Alverno, members of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC), tied it with two runs in the bottom of the fifth before prevailing on a squeeze bunt in extra innings. It was NJCU's first extra-innings contest since late in the 2015 season.
 
The No. 2-4 batters accounted for NJCU's offensive as Squeo and freshman second baseman Caralynne Rivera (Brick, N.J./Kearny) were each 2-for-4 with a run scored; Rivera had a double. Paulikas was 1-for-3. Each team had six hits.
 
Alverno (2-3) sophomore left fielder Bailey Jedrzejewski (Franklin, Wisc.) was the lone Inferno player with multiple hits, going 2-for-3.
 
Junior left-handed pitcher Olivia Schneider (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) went the distance for the Inferno, striking out six (no walks) over 101 pitches. She allowed just two runs on six hits in eight innings. Mezey (2-1) threw 121 pitches, striking out five (one walk). In 7.1 frames she allowed just one earned run over six hits.
 
In the first, Rivera doubled, Squeo singled and stole second, and both scored on a single through the right side by Paulikas. After Alverno cut the lead in half in the bottom of the fifth, an error extended the inning and allowed the tying run to score. It proved costly because NJCU couldn't win it in regulation and did not have a hit in the sixth, seventh or eighth innings. In the bottom of the eighth, freshman designated player Becca Skrobis (Oak Creek, Wisc.) was placed on second under international tiebreaker rules, was sacrificed to third and scored when senior right fielder Kristin Holub (Lisle, Ill.) dropped down a successful suicide squeeze back to the pitcher.
 
Game 2: NJCU 9, Elms 7

In the unlikely comeback, NJCU had just four hits through five innings before cranking out 11 in the final two frames to outhit the Blazers, 15-9, and stun the NECC foe.
 
Olacio, who hit a walkoff grand slam on March 7, belted her second homer of the season and tripled, driving in three runs and scoring twice in a 3-for-4 effort. Concepcion was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, two runs, a double and triple while Squeo was 3-for-4 with a double. NJCU had six extra-base hits in the win.
 
Paulikas (2-0), the winning pitcher, went 2-for-4 with two runs, a double and RBI and sophomore catcher Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, N.J./Bordentown) scored twice in a 2-for-4 performance. Junior third baseman Melissa Mendoza (Union City, N.J./Union City) added two hits.
 
Elms (2-6) sophomore shortstop Madison Messier (Warren, Mass.) drove in two runs while sophomore center fielder Kayla Doherty (Plaistow, N.H.) and sophomore designated player Erin O'Donnell (Glenmont, N.Y.) collected a pair of hits. Freshman right fielder Hannah Adams (Deerfield, Mass.) and senior pitcher Tessa Cote (Granby, Mass.) each scored twice. Cote (1-3) was the losing pitcher.
 
The Blazers scored four times in the second inning and single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth to seize what appeared to be an insurmountable margin with two innings to play. Elms had four hits in the second when three players collected RBI singles and Messier's sac fly made it 4-0. NJCU committed three errors between the fourth and fifth to see the margin increase.
 
But NJCU rallied in the sixth. Paulikas doubled in the first run and Concepcion belted her second career homer over the center field fence for a 7-3 deficit. Olacio stepped up and drilled a homer to left center and the margin was 7-4 heading to the seventh.
 
After consecutive pops to open the seventh, the incredible comeback happened. Gavin singled and stole second, Paulikas singled and Concepcion doubled in a run. Olacio followed with a two-run triple to right to tie the game at 7-7. Mendoza singled in the go-ahead run, moved to second on a passed ball, and scored on an RBI single by freshman middle infielder Alicia Nazario (Jersey City, N.J./Hoboken) for a 9-7 advantage. Mezey came in and shutdown the Blazers, retiring the first two batters and after an error, coaxed a game-ending ground ball.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series vs. Alverno: Alverno leads, 2-0. The only other meeting on March 11, 2015 (9-2, loss).
• Series vs. Elms: NJCU leads, 2-0. NJCU won the only other meeting on March 9, 2011, 11-5.
• NJCU played its first extra-inning game since an 8-7 win over Yeshiva in eight innings in game one of a doubleheader in Jersey City on April 30, 2015.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU concludes its 2017 spring trip on Thursday, March 9 when it faces Albion College (9 a.m.) and Dominican University (Ill.) (11 a.m.). Both games will be played on North Collier Regional Park Field 2.
 
Albion (4-4) is members of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA). The Britons won the only other meeting between the schools, 1-0, in Fort Myers, Fla. on March 10, 2008. Dominican (7-3, Won 6), is also members of the NACC and the Stars will be third member of the conference NJCU faces on the trip. Dominican won both previous meetings on March 12, 2015 (Cape Coral, Fla.), 9-1, and March 11, 2009, 4-0, in Fort Myers.