EWING, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) |The College of New Jersey (26-6, 14-2 NJAC) used a pair of strong pitching performances to sweep a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader from the New Jersey City University softball team (4-28, 0-16 NJAC) on April 24 at Dr. June Walker Field. The Lions won both games by identical 8-0 scores—each game ending after five innings. With the two wins, TCNJ captured the 2018 NJAC regular season championship.
 
TCNJ, receiving votes in the NFCA Division III Top 25 poll, had its pitchers throw a pair of one-hitters. Up 7-0, TCNJ won each game with single runs in the bottom of the fifth.
 
GAME 1: The College of New Jersey 8, New Jersey City 0 (5 innings)
Freshman Alanna Namit (Mountainside, N.J.) improved to 13-0, striking out 13 of the 17 batters she faced. She walked one and allowed a one-out fifth inning single to junior right-handed pitcher Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) through the left side to break up the no-hitter. Sophomore left fielder Kayla Clarke (East Rutherford, NJ/Becton Regional) later drew a walk with two outs.
 
TCNJ needed just nine hits to cement the win. Sophomore shortstop Megan Mayernik (Columbus, N.J.) was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Junior catcher Jess McGuire (Stockton, N.J.) was 2-for-3 and freshman third baseman Lauren Conroy (Aberdeen, N.J.) drove in two runs (1-for-3, 1 run).
 
Senior first baseman Madison Levine (Oakland, N.J.) scored twice (1-for-2, 1 RBI, 1 run) and sophomore right fielder Helena Coppola (Lincroft, N.J.) walked three times.
 
The Lions scored three times in the third inning and four times in the fourth. TCNJ had five extra base hits in the win, including three triples. Conroy had a two-run triple in the fourth. Sophomore second baseman Annalise Suitovsky (Warren Township, N.J.) had an RBI double in the fourth and Mayernik followed with an RBI triple. In the fifth, after a single and a walk, TCNJ executed a double steal to put two runners in scoring position and won the game on a groundout to shortstop by senior Danielle Carey (Maple Shade, N.J.).
 
GAME 2: The College of New Jersey 8, New Jersey City 0 (5 innings)
In game two, senior Sam Platt (Cedar Grove, N.J.) allowed one hit, striking out four batters against one walk over 52 pitches in 5.0 innings. She improved to 8-4 with the win. TCNJ scored four times in the first inning, adding a single run in the second and two in the third.
 
NJCU's lone hit was a single down the right field line by freshman second baseman Dulce Almonte (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder via County Prep) to lead off the third. Mezey was on the short side of both starts for NJCU.
 
TCNJ won it in the fifth on a sac fly by Suitovsky after a leadoff single by Carey, a sac bunt and a steal of third. Coppola was 2-for- 2 with two RBIs and a run scored and freshman left fielder Allie Immerso (Brick, N.J.) was 2-for-2 with one run and one RBI. Junior center fielder Gaby Bennett (Hamilton, N.J.) batted 2-for-3 (1 run, 1 RBI). Suitovsky walked three times before lifting the game-winning sac fly to left.
 
With nearly identical numbers to game one, the Lions had 10 hits, five of which were extra-base hits—two doubles and three triples.
 
NOTABLES:

• 41st and 42nd meetings; TCNJ leads all-time series, 41-1.

 
UP NEXT:

• NJCU will play a makeup non-conference doubleheader on Friday, April 27 at 4:30 p.m. when it faces College of Staten Island in Staten Island, N.Y. CSI leads the all-time 'Bayonne Bridge Series' by a 31-17 margin. It will be the 49th and 50th meetings.

 
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