Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 FORT MYERS, Fla. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | After a brief, one-day respite from the Florida heat, the New Jersey City University softball team (1-7) dropped both ends of a doubleheader on March 13. Their bats were first quelled by Alfred State (2-5) in a 13-1 loss (five innings)  and then by Kenyon College (13-3) in a 10-2 outcome (six innings). The Knights had just four hits for the day, as they stayed aggressive at the plate but couldn't find any gaps, facing two defensively stout teams.
 
Game 1: Alfred State 13, NJCU 1 (5 innings)
For the first time all season, the Knights were the road team in a neutral site game, and they made the most of that in Wednesday's opener, as senior shortstop Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) drew a leadoff walk, and after freshman second baseman Maria Montes (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) reached on an error by the third baseman—one forced by a nice bunt—freshman left/center fielder Laura Ford (Leonia, NJ/Leonia)—the reigning New Jersey Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week—drove home Gavin with a fielder's choice for the first run of the game.
 
The Pioneers were all business from there, however, as they first responded with five runs in the bottom half of the first. Alfred State saw their first two runners get on, but sophomore righty Amber Hunter (Piscataway, NJ/Arts (Newark)) got the next two Pioneers on sacrifices (one a bunt, another a fly ball), and the Knights looked poised to get out of the inning all tied at 1-1. The Pioneers had other plans, however, as the next five batters reached base, bringing the score to 5-1 by the end of the first.
 
Alfred State didn't slow down from there. Their batters continued to find every gap possible, adding four in the second, and two more each in the third and fourth. The Knights bat, meanwhile, were quiet, collecting only one more hit for the game, a Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) (senior, designated player) liner down the left field line that eventually put Mezey and freshman first baseman Emma Herrick (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) on second and third, but NJCU couldn't quite get them home.
 
Freshman right-handed pitcher Arianna Traugott (Elmira, NY) tossed the complete game one-hitter for Alfred, striking out six (two walks).
 
Designated player Jordan Leonard (Lancaster, NY) led the 14-hit charge for the Pioneers, collecting three hits and four RBI (3-for-3, two runs). Sophomore left fielder Morgan Franklin (Wellsville, N.Y.) was 3-for-4 with two runs and one RBI while sophomore first baseman Ashley Peterson (Maybrook, N.Y.) went 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI. Freshman third baseman Brianna Dittman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and freshman center fielder  Marissa Varela (Egg Harbor Township, N.J.) both drove in a pair of runs.
 
Game 2: Kenyon College 10, NJCU 2 (6 innings)
In a rematch of the Knights first game—and first win—of the season, the tables were turned this time, as Kenyon took the lead early and never looked back, picking up their impressive 13th win of the season already (13-3). The Ladies scored three times each in the second, fourth and sixth innings.
 
The top of the order got things going all day for Kenyon, with the top four hitters getting on a combined eight times and coming around to score on seven of those occasions. The Knights also helped out Kenyon with a few miscues in the field, although the undoubted highlights of the day also came on that side of the ball for NJCU. Senior basketball-star turned-softball player Marajiah Bacon (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) made a trio of plays—one so impressive it even fooled the umpire- worthy of the highlight reel, tossing out a pair of runners at third and making a catch at first on a near-errant throw to first that flashed some of her impressive basketball hands on the softball diamond.
 
The Knights were down 7-0 before they first scored, doing so in the fifth when Mezey walked and junior catcher Arianna Scrimo (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) singled to start off the inning. After a pair of strikeouts, Gavin powered one the other way, driving in pinch-runner Denise Lopez (Newark, NJ/North 13th Street Techt) and putting the Knights on the board.
 
NJCU continued to cut into the lead the next half inning, as Herrick drew a one-out walk, Ford moved her along to second base, and Mezey drove her in with a single into the right-center gap, but not enough to mount a larger comeback.
 
The Ladies had 18 player see action and collected 10 total hits while reaching base on six walks. Sophomore center fielder Grace Finn (Escondido, Calif.) was 2-for-3 with three runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Sophomore Kathryn Riggs (Alexandria, Va.) came off the bench to score three times.
 
OF NOTE:

• Chase for 100: Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) collected another hit on Wednesday, bringing her career total to 89 hits in the green and gold.

 
UP NEXT:
The Gothic Knights play an afternoon doubleheader at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, first facing off with Curry College (3-3) at 1:00 p.m. before squaring off with Nazareth College (3-3) at 3:00 p.m. The final four games of the 2019 spring trip will be broadcast live. Watch live on #GothicVision at www.NJCUGothicKnights.com/GothicVision or live stats https://njcugothicknights.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary.
 
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