NAPLES, Fla. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The  New Jersey City University softball dropped both ends of its season-opening day of action on March 4 at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic played at North Collier Park. Clark University defeated the Gothic Knights, 10-1, in a seven-inning no-hitter, while Kenyon College limited the Knights to two hits in a 3-0 win.
 
GAME 1: Clark University (Mass.) 10, New Jersey City University 1
NJCU committed six errors, leading to five unearned runs as Clark (2-1) scored three runs in the second, four more in the fifth and did not allow a hit. The Cougars needed just four hits to prevail.
 
Senior right-handed pitcher Sami West (Gonic, N.H.) struck out 13 of the 20 batters she faced in front of a defense that played error-free softball. She walked six in 7.0 innings, allowing one unearned run in the second inning when she issued three free passes; NJCU's run came in on a passed ball.
 
Freshman center fielder Jessica Urella (North Grafton, Mass.) had the biggest hit for Clark and finished with three RBIs. Her bases-clearing two-out, three-run double to left in the fifth pushed the margin to 7-0 after the Cougars scored three runs on three errors in the second frame.
 
Sophomore shortstop Christina Kopacz (North Grosvenordale, Conn.) walked twice and scored twice. Senior second baseman Leah Bodin scored twice and drove in a run with a single in the fourth. Two other players walked twice and another scored a pair of runs.
 
Junior right-handed pitcher Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) only allowed four hits (three singles) and struck out six in defeat but was wild, issuing 11 walks.
 
GAME 2: Kenyon 3, New Jersey City University 0
In a much more cleanly played game, Kenyon had just six hits but scored three times in the top of the fifth inning to edge the Knights, 3-0. NJCU was limited to a pair of singles—by junior third baseman Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) and a pinch-hit single by sophomore Jamilet Leonardo (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter).
 
Kenyon, now 4-0 to start a season for just the third time since 1998, got a solid performance from sophomore pitcher Keely Sweet (Glencoe, Mo.) who struck out two and walked one, against just two singles in 7.0 innings for her third win (3-0). Mezey allowed just three runs and six hits with two strikeouts and three walks in the loss.
 
No Ladies player had multiple hits but freshman center fielder Grace Finn (Escondido, Calif.) had a two-run double in the fifth when Kenyon had four of its six hits and that knock plated the eventual winning runs after senior shortstop Amanda Coyle (West Palm Beach, Fla.) and senior third baseman Madi Maldonado (Chicago, Ill.) both singled and stole second and third. Finn eventually came around on a groundout.
 
NJCU had runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and a chance to tie the game, before Sweet get out of trouble with a grounder back to third.
 
NOTABLES:

• First games coaches by new head coach Marc Della Volpe.
• Series vs. Clark: All-time even, 1-1. The schools were meeting in Florida for the second year in a row.
• Series vs. Kenyon: Kenyon leads, 3-0.

 
UP NEXT:
 

• Day two of the trip moves to the Centurylink Complex in Fort Myers, Fla., where the Knights will face Albion College (9 a.m.) and Drew University (11 a.m.). Both games will be broadcast live and feature live stats at www.NJCUGothicKnights.com

 
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