JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | Senior center fielder Julie Squeo (Carlstadt, NJ/Becton Regional) became the all-time leader in hit by pitches on Senior Day 2018 as the New Jersey City University softball team (4-24, 0-12 NJAC) dropped a pair of New Jersey Athletic Conference games on April 21 to Rutgers-Newark (20-11, 6-6 NJAC), falling 10-2 in five innings and 4-3 in the nightcap at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
 
Squeo was hit by a pitch for the 23rd time in her career, breaking the record of 22 by former teammate Thalia Garcia from 2013-16. NJCU also honored four-year senior Melissa Mendoza (Union City, NJ/Union City) between games of the doubleheader.
 
NJCU led the second game, 2-0, before the Scarlet Raiders rallied with three runs in the fourth inning. Squeo was one of four NJCU players to double in the nightcap and the Gothic Knights had two hits apiece from junior third baseman Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) and right-handed pitcher Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy), sophomore left fielder Kayla Clarke (East Rutherford, NJ/Becton Regional) and freshman shortstop Dayanara Flores (Jersey City, NJ/Hudson Catholic via M.E.T.S. Charter).
 
Rutgers-Newark had six extra-base hits in game two, including five doubles, and RUN senior righty Kelly Yusko (Portage, Pa.) was the winning pitcher in game one and had the save in game two for the Scarlet Raiders. She was also the key offensively, combining to bat 6-for-8 with three RBIs and senior second/third baseman Morgan Walizer (Forked River, N.J.) doubled three times and was a combined 5-for-8.
 
GAME 1: Rutgers-Newark 10, New Jersey City 2 (5 innings)
Rutgers-Newark notched 15 hits and Yusko limited NJCU to four hits in the five-inning Raider win. RUN scored twice in the first and third innings and put the game away with a five-run top of the fifth for a 10-0 lead. NJCU's two runs came in the bottom of the fifth when it rallied in an attempt to extend the contest. Four of the five runs scored in the fifth inning were unearned after a two-out error extended the inning.
 
Yusko threw the first 4.0 innings, allowing just two hits over 57 pitches while striking out two and walking none, improving to 6-4. NJCU scored both runs off of Walizer in relief.
 
Offensively, Yusko was 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBIs and senior catcher Morgan Schweitzer (Monroe, N.J.) was 3-for-4 (1 run). Walizer batted 3-for-4 (1 run) as those three players combined for nine hits.
 
Sophomore right fielder Sarah Stiehler (Bloomsbury, N.J.) had two RBIs in a 2-for-2 effort (1 run) and freshman first baseman Julie Contravo (Hainesport, N.J.) scored twice. Freshman shortstop Jaclyn Arute (Berlin, Conn.) walked three times.
 
For NJCU, sophomore left fielder Arianna Scrimo (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) had half of NJCU's hits, batting 2-for-2 with an RBI. Mendoza drive in the other run. Gavin had a double in the loss.
 
GAME 2: Rutgers-Newark 4, New Jersey City 3
NJCU lost an NJAC game by one run for the second time this season as the Scarlet Raiders rallied in the fourth inning to grab a 4-2 lead. NJCU scored once in the sixth but couldn't force a tie.
 
Mezey batted 2-for-3 with two RBIs and Flores scored twice, going 2-for-3 with one RBI. Gavin and Clarke each batted 2-for-3. Squeo and Mendoza each had a hit. Mezey lost each game but in the nightcap, struck out four and allowed just four runs over 125 pitches.
 
Freshman righty Paige Masiello (West Milford, N.J.) won for Newark (9-6), tossing the first 4.0 innings while allowing two runs and six hits over 53 pitches. Yusko earned her first save of the season, striking out two and allowing a run and four hits in the final 3.0 innings.
 
Offensively for the Raiders, Yusko was 3-for-4 and Walizer doubled twice, batting 2-for-4 (1 run, 1 RBI). Arute and Schweitzer each had two hits. Junior center fielder Samantha Hoffman (Metuchen, N.J.) scored twice while batting 1-for-2 (1 RBI, 1 walk) and Contravo walked twice.
 
NJCU scored twice in the first inning. Squeo was hit by a pitch on the eighth pitch of an at bat to become the all-time leader, Gavin singled and Flores doubled down the left field line to score Squeo for a 1-0 lead. Gavin was thrown out at the plate on a relay from the shortstop. Mezey singled with two outs to score Flores for a 2-0 lead.
 
With two outs in the second, Arute tripled to drive in Hoffman who had walked, cutting the deficit in half (2-1). Newark got the decisive runs in the fourth. After a leadoff double, Hoffman doubled to tie it before she scored the go-ahead run on a two-out double down the left field line by Walizer. An infield single by Yusko made it 4-2.
 
Mezey held the Raiders scoreless from there. NJCU got a run back in the sixth against Yusko in relief. Flores led off with a single and scored on a double off the fence in left by Mezey—her first of the season—with no outs. She didn't miss a game-tying homer by much but was stranded at third and NJCU couldn't tie it in the seventh.
 
NOTABLES:

• 74th and 75th meetings; Rutgers-Newark leads the all-time series, 40-35.

 
UP NEXT:

• In a doubleheader originally scheduled for April 17 then postponed again on April 20, NJCU heads to Montclair, N.J. to face Montclair State University in a makeup NJAC doubleheader on Sunday, April 22, beginning at 1 p.m. Montclair (21-9, 7-5 NJAC, Won 5) leads the all-time series, 38-2. MSU is 11-3 at home this season.

 
GOTHIC KNIGHTS on SOCIAL MEDIA:
For the latest on NJCU softball and #NJCUSB, follow the Gothic Knights on social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and SnapChat. Preferred hashtag is GothicFamily and GothicGameDay.