JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Freshman shortstop Naomi Olacio (Bayonne, NJ/Hoboken) (Bayonne, N.J./Hoboken) had a game-tying RBI double to score senior first baseman/right-handed pitcher Brittany Paulikas (Fords, NJ/JFK-Iselin) (Ford, N.J./John F. Kennedy Memorial) in the fourth inning and the game remained tied, 1-1, until No. 14 Kean University scored three in the top of the sixth to hold off the New Jersey City University softball team, 4-1, in game two of a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. Kean won the April 11 opening game, 9-0 (6 innings).
 
Each team had six hits in the second game, with Olacio and Paulikas posting two apiece but the Cougars, ranked 14th (tied) in the most recent National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division III Top 25 poll, improve to 21-3 overall and 6-2 in the league. NJCU fell to 7-11 (0-8 NJAC, Lost 8).
 
Game 1: No. 14 Kean 9, New Jersey City 0 (6 inn.)
Kean scored six runs in the top of the first inning and received a masterful pitching performance from senior righty Shannon McMahon (South Plainfield, N.J.) in the 9-0 result.
 
McMahon tossed a one-hit shutout—her fourth shutout of the season—allowing a lone fourth inning single to left center by freshman second baseman Caralynne Rivera (Brick, NJ/Kearny) (Brick, N.J./Kearny). McMahon needed 66 pitches to improve to 12-0 on the season with six strikeouts and no walks. She now has 34 strikeouts and only three walks all year.
 
Sophomore right fielder Caroline Ratti (South Plainfield, N.J.) led off the game with her fourth homer of the season and scored three runs while sophomore designated player Olivia Zengel (Stockton, N.J.) batted 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run. Senior second baseman Emily Sabo (Rahway, N.J.), who entered the day as Kean's all-time hits leader (218), was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Sophomore first baseman Jacqueline Riley (South Amboy, N.J.) finished with two RBIs.
 
Kean scored its six runs on four hits in the first inning when NJCU committed two errors. With the bases loaded, Zengel had a two-run single up the middle and a third run scored from first on an error in center. After Zengel reached third on the two-base error, she stole home before the next pitch was thrown for a 5-0 lead.
 
Leading 7-0 after two innings, Kean was held scoreless in the next three innings. But in the top of the sixth,  Kean loaded the bases with a hit by pitch and two walks and without a hit, was able to get two runs to enforce the eight-run rule as senior center fielder Dana Knapp (Langhorne, Pa.) and Riley each aired out sacrifice flies.
 

Game 2: No. 14 Kean 4, New Jersey City 1
NJCU put a scare into the Cougars in the nightcap when the game went to the sixth inning tied at 1-1. Kean got the runs it needed with three in the sixth on just two hits and the Gothic Knights managed just one base runner in the final two innings. Each team had six hits.
 
Olacio was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI while Paulikas scored the tying run in a 2-for-3 effort. Sabo and Riley each tallied 2-for-3 efforts for Kean.
 
Senior designated player Emily Bissonnette (Stewartsville, N.J.) tallied two RBIs. Knapp had a double and walked twice. Sabo, who was 17-for-17 to start the year in steal attempts, had her streak end in the fifth inning when she would have been safe but tagged out when she overslid the bag.
 
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) (Jersey City, N.J./Saint Dominic Academy), after struggling in a game one setback, pitched well enough to win game two before falling to 4-9. In 5.1 innings, she struck out four (walked four) and allowed three earned runs and five hits. Paulikas came on in relief and tossed the final 1.2 innings. She struck out one (two walks) and allowed just one hit.
 
Freshman left-handed pitcher Taryn DiGiacomo (Saddle Brook, N.J.) won (9-3) for Kean. She struck out six without issuing a walk and allowed one run and six hits.
 
Kean scored first in the third when Ratti reached on an error. Sabo doubled and was caught in a rundown going to third, which allowed Ratti to advance to the plate.
 
NJCU evened it in the fourth when it collected three hits. Paulikas singled, junior left fielder Julie Squeo (Carlstadt, NJ/Becton Regional) (Carlstadt, N.J./Becton Regional) had a two-out base hit and Olacio deposited a game-tying hit to right center.
 
The game changed in the sixth. With one out, Knapp walked and Riley singled. On a ground ball to third, NJCU appeared to tag out Knapp for the second out on a fielder's choice but she was ruled safe, loading the bases. Kean took advantage of the break. Junior catcher Kacie Worswick (Mountainside, N.J.) drew a bases-loaded walk and Bissonnette lobbed a two-run single that landed on the left field line for the 4-1 margin.
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: 59th meeting. Kean leads series, 53-6.
• Brittany Paulikas (Fords, NJ/JFK-Iselin) now has 85 career hits.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU is back on the road on Thursday, April 13 (3 p.m.) when it faces Farmingdale State in Farmingdale, N.Y. The Rams are 11-11 (6-4 Skyline) with two games tomorrow against Baruch. It will be the first meeting between the schools in 12 years; NJCU swept a home doubleheader from Farmingdale on April 12, 2005 in Jersey City, 7-4 and 7-2. NJCU leads the series, 5-0.