MAHWAH, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) | New Jersey City University softball head coach Ashley Martinez very nearly picked up her first NJAC win against NJCU's all-time winningest softball coach, as the Gothic Knights fell 1-0, in a tightly-contested pitcher's duel, against Bridgette Quimpo's Ramapo College squad in game two of a New Jersey Athletic Conference doubleheader on April 23 at the Ramapo Athletic Center. Ramapo won the opening game, 8-0 in five innings.
 
Quimpo served as NJCU head coach from 2004-2013 and won 135 games. It would have been quite the win for the Knights, who fell to 4-28 and 0-14 with the loss, while Ramapo improved to 11-3 in the NJAC and 20-10 overall. The Roadrunners sit third in the conference with just four games to go.
 
GAME 1: Ramapo 8, NJCU 0 (5 innings)
The Knights turned in one of their better defensive efforts in the opener of Tuesday's doubleheader, but Ramapo senior ace, Erin Fitzsimmons (Sayreville, N.J.), was locked in from the start, stifling the NJCU bats entirely.
 
The Roadrunners were also able to capitalize when it mattered most, turning 10 hits and three walks into eight runs, enough to end the game in five innings. Sophomore shortstop Krista Verrino(Mohegan Lake, N.Y.) knocked in the decisive run with two outs in the fifth; five of the Roadrunners eight runs in game one came with two outs.
 
For the Knights, they started things off all right, with Dulce Almonte (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder via County Prep) collecting a one-out single in the first inning. However, that runner was wiped out with a double play on the very next batter. And that would be it for NJCU baserunners all game, as Fitzsimmons faced the minimum on the day, retiring the final 13 batters she faced.
 
The Knights put the ball in play, with only three strikeouts for the game, but the Roadrunners defense had their senior ace's back, committing zero errors, and keeping the Knights off the basepaths entirely after the first inning.
 
Verrino was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. Junior center fielder Jackie Howarth (Wall, N.J.) scored three times, batting 2-for-2 (one RBI) while stealing three bases. Senior catcher Olivia Mahon (Mount Laurel, N.J.) had two RBIs, batting 2-for-2.
 
GAME 2: Ramapo 1, NJCU 0
The second half of Tuesday's doubleheader was a quick-moving, tightly-contested pitcher's duel. Senior right-handed pitcher Christina Mezey (Jersey City, NJ/Saint Dominic Academy) got the call for the Knights, and she tossed a complete game, going six innings, allowing nine hits and a walk, striking out one, and allowing just one run to come around for the Roadrunners.
 
Unfortunately for their NJCU senior, and the team as a whole, the Ramapo pitchers were up to the task, with sophomore righty Jessica Becchetti (Eastchester, N.Y.) taking the first five frames, while Fitzsimmons reappeared in game two to take the final two innings of the second shutout of the day for the Roadrunners for the save (2).
 
Both starters cruised through the beginning section of the game, with only one runner per side even getting into scoring position through the first three innings.
 
The fourth inning saw each team collect a double, the Knights' coming via freshman first baseman Emma Herrick (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) just one batter after a double play cleared the bases, and she was left stranded one batter later. In the bottom half of the inning, Mezey was able to work around a one-out double to keep the game scoreless.
 
Ramapo got the only run they'd need in the fifth, this coming after the Knights threatened in the top half, with Mezey and freshman second baseman Katherine Ayala (Jersey City, NJ/University Academy Charter) collecting singles, but neither able to come around and score. In the bottom half, the Knights once again got the first two outs of the inning, but a two-out single by Verrino was followed by a double from sophomore second baseman Carli Egan (Washington Twp., N.J.) to score the lone run of the game.
 
A sixth-inning single from Herrick was the only hit for the Knights the rest of the way, as Ramapo held on to win 1-0.  
 
Herrick batted 2-for-3 for NJCU. Junior designated player Kendra Decker (Tabernacle, N.J.) led Ramapo, going 3-for-3. Egan and Verrino each had two hits.
 
OF NOTE:

• Freshman Emma Herrick (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) collected the second multi-hit game of her NJCU career in game two of the doubleheader.

 
UP NEXT:
NJCU will host No. 15 The College of New Jersey (26-6, 13-1 NJAC) in their penultimate NJAC series of the season, with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on April 25 at the Thomas M. Gerrity Athletic Complex.
 
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