JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | The Gothic Knights and standout senior shortstop Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown), came into Monday, March 25's doubleheader against John Jay College with their eye on two goals: for Gavin to reach 100 hits, and to break their losing streak of 11 games entering the day. Two games later, the New Jersey City University softball team and their star senior had accomplished both goals.
 
In its 2019 home opener, the Knights (2-12) lost the first game of their doubleheader with the Bloodhounds (3-7) by an 8-6 outcome, but they bounced back in the second game, winning 6-3 in six innings in a game called due to darkness. Gavin was a combined 4-for-7 while scoring four runs in the doubleheader. Gavin became the 15th player in NJCU softball history to collect 100 career hits when she laced a double off the center field fence in the second inning of game two.
 
Game 1: John Jay 8, NJCU 6
In game one, both teams got the bats out early, with the Bloodhounds scoring three in the top of the first and taking a 4-0 lead through an inning and a half.
 
In the bottom of the second, the Knights cut into that Bloodhound lead, as freshman first baseman Emma Herrick (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) led off the inning with her team-leading sixth walk of the season (later collecting her seventh) before freshman center fielder Laura Ford (Leonia, NJ/Leonia)  drew a walk of her own. Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) dropped down a perfect bunt to beat out an infield hit. Freshman left fielder Gisselle Vigil (Jersey City, NJ/Dickinson) deposited a two-run single to the opposite field before a sacrifice fly from junior catcher Arianna Scrimo (Kearny, NJ/Kearny) later in the inning cut the lead to 4-3.
 
The two teams traded a run apiece in the third, as Gavin collected career hit number 98 and came around to score on an error on a Ford grounder to shortstop.
 
Another three-run frame from John Jay in the fourth extended the lead back out to four, where it would stay until the bottom of the seventh. Bloodhound sophomore left-handed pitcher AnneMarie Rivera (Yonkers, N.Y.) had a two-run single to lead the three-run, five-hit inning.
 
Despite being down four, the Knights battled in their final ups, with freshman second baseman Maria Montes (Jersey City, NJ/Ferris) drawing a leadoff walk and the team then rallying with two outs, as Ford hit a ball that appeared to leave the yard but was ruled a double. Vigil then had another clutch two-run single to draw within two, 8-6. With the winning run at the plate, a fielder's choice ended the game.
 
Vigil led NJCU with three RBIs in a 2-for-4 showing and Gavin and Ford each scored twice. Herrick walked twice.
 
John Jay had 12 hits. Rivera, the winning pitcher (2-2) had three RBIs, going 2-for-4 while junior center fielder Jessica Barbaria (Staten Island, N.Y.) was 3-for-4 with three runs and one RBI. Sophomore catcher Tommi Mandell (East Rutherford, N.J.) scored twice, batting 2-for-3. Freshman right fielder Julianne Graepel (Lynbrook, N.Y.) had two RBIs, batting 2-for-4.
 
Game 2: NJCU 6, John Jay 3 (6 innings)
In the second game of Monday's home-opening doubleheader, the Knights were locked and loaded from the start, with their ace, Mezey, in the circle and five runs over the course of their first two times at bat. The game ended after five and a half innings due to darkness.
 
NJCU chalked up 10 hits, batting 3-for-3 with two runs and one RBI and Herrick (1-for-2) drove in two runs. Sophomore second baseman Dulce Almonte (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder via County Prep) and Mezey each went 2-for-3. In the circle, Mezey struck out six and allowed just three hits in 6.0 innings.
 
In the bottom of the first, after John Jay had taken a 1-0 lead, Montes got things going right off the bat with a liner up the middle which Gavin followed up with hit number 99 to put runners on first and second. A wild pitch advanced the runners into scoring position, and a single from Herrick tied the game up. Ford collected her third RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly before the inning ended with NJCU ahead, 2-1.
 
John Jay tied it back up in the top half of the second, but the Knights put some space between the two teams in the bottom of the second, with the undoubted highlight being an RBI double from Gavin that doubled as a bit of NJCU history, as Hannah Gavin (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) became the 15th member of the NJCU 100-hit club, undoubtedly relishing that it came on a hit that extended the Knights lead.
 
A sacrifice fly from Herrick extended the lead to 5-2—one that would hold until the bottom of the fifth when the Knights tacked on another insurance run in the form of a two-out RBI single from Almonte to drive in Ford who had stolen second base the play before.
 
The Bloodhounds got one more run in the sixth, an inning that would end up being the final of the game, as the umpires decided there was not enough light to continue playing, as the Knights collected their second victory of the season.
 
Freshman second baseman Nicole Lopez (Blairstown, N.J.) has two RBIs for the Bloodhounds. Graepel (1-3) was the loser in the nightcap.
 
OF NOTE:

• NJCU was playing its first games after a 10-day break following NJCU's spring trip.
• Series vs. John Jay: The Gothic Knights lead the all-time series, 26-5.
• First meeting since March 18, 2014. First meeting at home since April 6, 2007.
• Head coach Ashley Martinez won her first home game as new head coach of the Gothic Knights.

 
UP NEXT:
After a break of 10 days before Monday's doubleheader, the Gothic Knight schedule really gets going now, with a doubleheader at home against Lehman College (1-9) on Thursday, March 28 with first pitch of game one scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
 
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. Follow live stats: https://njcugothicknights.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary