MAHWAH, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University trailed just 2-0 after five innings in game two before Ramapo College scored six in the sixth inning to defeat the Gothic Knights, 8-0 in six innings in game two of a New Jersey Athletic Conference road doubleheader on April 8. The Roadrunners also took the opener, 7-0.
 
NJCU fell below .500 with the two shutout losses (7-9, 0-6 NJAC). Ramapo improved to 14-6 and 5-1 in the league. It was a makeup of an April 4 rainout.
 
Six different NJCU players had a hit on the day but none had multiple hits. Ramapo managed 21 hits in the doubleheader.
 
Game 1: Ramapo 7, New Jersey City 0
The Roadrunners scored two runs in the first and three in the third and outhit the Knights, 9-4. Christina Brizek tossed 6.0 shutout innings, striking out three without issuing a walk. She allowed four hits. Paige Merle had a strikeout in a 1-2-3 seventh.
 
NJCU freshman center fielder Alanis Concepcion (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) (Nutley, N.J./Nutley) doubled in the loss. Five of Ramapo's hits were doubles with Ally Spellman doing so twice. She was 3-for-3 with three runs. Shannon Cox had two RBIs and two runs scored while Brizek, who also was the designated player, knocked in two runs. Harper Patsko batted 2-for-3 with two runs, a double and an RBI while Nicole Mahoney was 2-for-3 with a double and RBI.
 
Cox was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the first inning to drive in the eventual winning run and Brizek had a sac sacrifice fly. Ramapo had three doubles in a span of four batters when it broke the game open in the third inning. Mahoney and Cox had back-to-back RBI doubles.
 
Game 2: Ramapo 8, New Jersey City 0 (6 innings)
Erin Fitzsimmons was dominant in the circle for Ramapo, tossing a complete-game two-hit shutout. She struck out four and walked one. Ramapo outhit NJCU, 12-2, including six doubles.
 
Patsko, who finished the doubleheader a combined 5-for-7 with three RBIs, was 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs and a run scored while Spellman added two RBIs and a 2-for-3 performance to collect a 5-for-6 afternoon, scoring four times. Carly Vadinsky was an additional standout for RCNJ in game two, scoring three times (2-for-3, one RBI).
 
After a Spellman sacrifice fly in the third and a Patsko RBI in the fifth made it 2-0, Ramapo pulled away in the sixth when it scored six times on six hits. Ramapo enforced the eight-run rule when it produced four doubles in a span of five at bats. Jackie Howarth, Spellman, Patsko and Cox all doubled in succession, to knock in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth runs. The Cox double ended the game.
 
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) (Jersey City, N.J./Saint Dominic Academy) took the losses in both games for NJCU (4-7).
 
OF NOTE:

• Series: 69th meeting. Ramapo leads series, 55-14 (Won last 30 games).

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU will have a serious test on Tuesday, April 11 (3 p.m.) when it hosts current No. 14 (tied) Kean University at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex. The Cougars are 19-3 overall and 4-2 in the NJAC. The new National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III poll will be announced prior to the doubleheader.