NEWARK, N.J. — Serving as the home team, though playing at Frederick Douglass Field for the day due to tough field conditions at home, the New Jersey City University softball team played a pair of highly competitive seven inning New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) games this afternoon, Saturday, April 17, against Rutgers-Newark, but fell to the Scarlet Raiders in game one 2-1 and 5-0 in game two.

Game 1
Rutgers-Newark (2-8, 2-8 NJAC) actually had a perfect game going through three in this one, and a no-no bid through four, but freshman Sidnie Dabbadie (Burbank, Calif./John Burroughs) of NJCU (0-10, 0-10 NJAC) was dealing for the Gothic Knights as well. The rookie righthander went the full 7.0 innings, allowing just six hits and two earned, both of which only scored on wild pitches. NJCU broke up the perfect game in the third with a two-out walk in the fourth from freshman catcher Mariah Villanueva (Jersey City, N.J./McNair Academic).

In the bottom of the fifth, the Gothic Knights trimmed the Scarlet Raiders' lead to one at 2-1. Junior first base Emma Herrick (Sayreville, N.J./Sayreville War Memorial) led off with a single to left and senior third base Dulce Almonte (Jersey City, N.J./Snyder via County Prep) moved her over to second with a sacrifice bunt. Sophomore Emily Ruiz (Jersey City, N.J./Dickinson (via County Prep)) entered as a pinch runner and, with two outs, rookie leftfielder Sam Miller (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) smacked a double to left center to plate Ruiz and cut the deficit.

From that point on, neither squad was able to find any cracks in the armor of either pitcher and the game ended after seven highly competitive innings in favor of Rutgers-Newark.

Game 2
Miller got the nod in the circle for NJCU in this one and went the full 7.0 inning as well, allowing five earned in the loss. The rookie worked her way into trouble early in the top of the first and the Scarlet Raiders were able to take a 1-0 lead, but thanks to some nifty defensive play, Miller was able to work her way out of any further damage.

With a runner — Rutgers' Jackie Lara — on third and just one out, Brianna Hernandez of the Scarlet Raiders reached on an infield single by legging out the throw. She looked to be going to second, so Herrick threw to sophomore Hailey Mojica (Secaucus, N.J./Secaucus) to try and catch her. However Mojica then tossed it back to Miller in the circle who found the catcher, Villanueva, on the third baseline where she tagged out Lara between third and home as she was sleeping on the play watching the action between first and second. Following another infield single to put runners on the corners, Miller got the groundout to third to end the half inning.

Then, in trouble once again in the top of the second, some more heads up defensive play got Miller out of another jam. With runners on first and second and two outs, Miller's pitch — just a bit high and outside — was dropped by Villanueva, but the runners did not advance. Then, before throwing it back to Miller in the circle, Villanueva pulled the quick trigger right to freshman shortstop Emily Tunney (Mays Landing, N.J./Oak Crest) — who was behind another sleeping baserunner — to tag out the Scarlet Raider for the successful pick off and end the inning.

Still leading 1-0, Rutgers-Newark was able to get two more runs across in the top of the third inning to make it 3-0. Neither team was able to generate any further offense until the top of the sixth, but the Scarlet Raiders did have a chance to put up a big number in the fifth. With the bases loaded and two away, Emily Bartus of Rutgers made solid contact on a hit through the right side and it looked as though the Scarlet Raiders were going to take a 4-0 lead, however she was called out on the play for leaving the batter's box early before actually making contact with the ball, ending the inning. However, Rutgers-Newark did actually get three more across in the top of the sixth and eventually closed out the 5-0 win.

Highlights
- Herrick had a couple of hits on the day, including a double.
- Almonte was 1-for-3 on the afternoon, adding a walk and a pair of sacrifice hits.
- Junior Brianna Loughlin (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) was 2-for-2 in game two with a pair of singles.

What's Next
NJCU returns to action on Tuesday, April 20, at 3:00 p.m. for a road doubleheader in Montclair, N.J., against Montclair State University.